Kochi has become the first city in India that is now a member of the Beijing-based World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF) Council. Kerala Tourism Department received an invite from the Council and gave its consent for the same.
In a function that was organized on August 10, Tony Chammany, Mayor of Kochi gave the membership acceptance document to Le Yucheng, the Chinese Ambassador to India. The event was attended by Oommen Chandy, Chief Minister of Kerala; Jiji Thomson, Chief Secretary; G Kamala Vardhana Rao, Tourism Secretary of Kerala and P I Sheik Pareeth, Tourism Director. T Balakrishnan, former Secretary and P H Khurian, State Principal Secretary for IT and Industries were also present at this function.
Yucheng suggested that India and China had strong links in fields like martial arts, cuisine, and dragon and boat races and thus they both can capture any kind of possible unisons in tourism, sports and culture. He also talked about pitching in investment from China’s side in the tourism sector of Kerala mainly for the construction of an oceanarium and an entertainment city.
The Chinese Ambassador also insisted on the need of a meeting of tour operators of both India and China and asked the government to do so. He was in complete agreement of the endeavors of the state for pushing up the inflow of tourists from China to Kerala. Kerala also got a positive reply from him on starting chartered flights to Kerala from China.
Kerala’s CM informed that the government will be charting out a comprehensive proposal about different possibilities of investment in Kerala, including tourism industry and the same would be sent to Beijing.
Thomson informed that WTCF has 135 members from all across the globe and Kochi being its member is a great moment for the Kerala Government and the Tourism Department. This new development is going to bring-in huge amount of opportunities for the tourism sector of Kerala. Rao added that with this partnership the state will now be able to explore opportunities in new markets of tourism in the world. Pareeth added that the invite from the Council is a big certification for the tourism of Kerala and an acknowledgement of the effort of the government of Kerala in reaching out to the tourism sector of the world.
Support of Yucheng was also sought by the state government for bringing the film production companies of China to India, mainly to Kerala, that boasts of world-class hotels, mesmerizing scenery and good connectivity. The major concern is dearth of guides in Kerala who are efficient in Chinese language. Cooperation is sought in this regard for training the Indian guides in Chinese.
World Tourism Cities Federation Council is a non-governmental, non-profit international body that is formed willingly by the tourism organizations and cities from several regions as well as countries across the globe. The Council was established on 15th September 2012 in Beijing. This is the very first tourism organization on an international level that makes efforts to keep its focus on the cities of the world.
Beijing International Tourism Expo was held recently and was attended by a delegation headed by A P Anil Kumar Minister for Tourism Kerala and the Chief Secretary of the State. A roadshow in Shanghai was also organized by the Tourism Department. It was attended by around 70 buyers from the travel and tourism industry of China. Rao headed another delegation that which organized a B2B meeting in Shanghai with travel agents and tour operators.