Chinese Ambassador to India Le Yucheng said that to capture the growing prospects of tourism of Kerala that is looking up for the Chinese markets, the concerned people should make use of prospective historical links between the state and China. After an interaction with Kerala’s Chief Minister, Oommen Chandy, Yucheng said, “A range of topics were covered in the interaction with the CM. We have chalked out an in-depth plan to boost the tourism prospects of Kerala in China. Marketing strategies for the same have already been discussed with Chief Secretary Jiji Thomson when he visited China. In a short period of time, a high-level team from China will visit Kerala to look into the investment venues, including the tourism sector.”
He emphasized on the necessity of exploring the historical connections between Kerala and China. Adding, he said, “Of them, the Chinese fishing net stands first. The snake-boat race and Kerala’s martial art ‘kalaripayattu’ have had their Chinese connections. The common factor lies in food also. My point is that these linkages have to be explored for the good, which will attract Chinese tourists to Kerala.”
The Chinese Ambassador to India said that last year Kerala was visited by 5000 tourists from China. He has also put forward some suggestions to the Kerala CM to allure more Chinese tourists. “The goal is to raise the figure to 50,000, and then to 500,000. But, spirited efforts are needed to reach that goal,” he added. Organizing martial art events, boat races, entertainment programs, investment conferences are some of the suggestion, along with others.