Kerala Tourism has started looking at new markets like Australia and Scandinavia in the wake of major source markets in Europe facing an economic crisis.

The decision to aggressively market the destination and the unique tourism products of these regions had been taken in view of the increase in the inflow of tourists and reports that the countries had been ‘less affected' by the economic crisis.

The current source markets for Kerala as per the 2010 tourist arrival statistics are U.K. 23.7 per cent; the U.S. 10.8 per cent; France 9.8 per cent; and Germany 7.6 per cent.

Industry stakeholders had been seeking to explore new markets like the U.S., Australia, Russia, China, and Malaysia. Since Australia had been relatively less affected with economic crisis, the island nation had been identified as an emerging source market by Kerala Tourism.

State Tourism Secretary T.K. Manoj Kumar will lead a delegation from the State to the two ‘workshops' to be organised by Kerala Tourism on October 25 and 26 in Sydney and Melbourne. Tourism Director Rani George and 10 industry representatives will be part of the delegation.

The workshops would include interactive sessions with the travel trade industry and travel writers, screening of the film Your Moment is Waiting, and a presentation by Mr. Manoj Kumar. The State is organising such a drive in Australia after six years.

“Air connectivity from Australia is the main roadblock to bringing tourists to the State. Those planning to come to the State will have to take connection flights through Singapore and many budget carriers are offering lower fares,” according to Anish Kumar P.K., chief executive officer of Travel Planners, who is participating in the workshops. During 2010, the State attracted 36,854 tourists from Australia and this was 5.59 per cent of the total arrivals.

Minister for Tourism A.P. Anil Kumar will lead a delegation to the World Travel Mart scheduled to be held in London from November 7. Mr. Manoj Kumar, Kerala Tourism Planning Officer U.V. Jose will lead a delegation for the workshops planned in Scandinavian countries. As per the schedule, the workshops in Oslo will be on November 14, Copenhagen November 15, Helsinki November 16, and Stockholm on November 17.

In 2010, as many as 10,525 tourists arrived from Sweden (1.60 per cent of the total tourist arrivals in the State), Denmark 8,825 tourists (1.34 per cent), Finland 3,146 tourists (0.48 per cent), and Norway 2,583 tourists (0.39 per cent).

This is for the third successive year that Kerala Tourism is organising a drive in Scandinavian countries.

World Tourism Day (September 27) will see the launch of the ‘Plastic-free Kovalam Project.' It is aimed at finding a solution to the garbage issue at the beach resort to make it an environment-friendly destination.

The initiative comes weeks ahead of another peak tourist season when the resorts that dot the beaches of Kovalam turn lively.

Under the project, shopkeepers will be provided cloth or paper bags. Plastic carry bags will be collected from them. Initially, 6,000 cotton bags will be supplied free-of-cost by the organisers, including Kerala Tourism.

Boards and hoardings will be placed at entry points to highlight the plastic-free campaign. Kerala Tourism will place dust bins on the Light House, Eves, and Samudra beaches.

As many as 2,000 leaflets, detailing the hazards of plastic, will be distributed to all those who depend on Kovalam for their livelihood, said Anish Kumar P.K., Lions Clubs International District 324 E1 chairperson for tourism.

The project will be implemented with support from Kerala Tourism, Kerala Tourism Protection Development Council (KTPDC), Udaya Samudra, and the Association of Tourism Trade Organisation's India (ATTOI).

KTPDC will set up a production unit for cloth bags. Women from around Kovalam will be employed at the unit and the bags will be supplied to the shops at the actual cost of production.

Kerala Tourism will hold a meeting at the beach resort to seek the cooperation of all stakeholders in the implementation of the plastic-free zone norms. Steps will be taken to reduce the use of mineral water bottles by tourists. A committee will review the project every month.

It was 11 years ago that the hotels in and around Kovalam started segregating waste into bio-degradable, non bio-degradable, and toxic as part of the ‘Zero-waste Kovalam project.' Funded by Kerala Tourism, the project was initiated by city-based non-governmental organisation (NGO) Thanal and Greenpeace. The local unit of the Kerala Hotel and Restaurant Association (KHRA) had supported the project.

Thanal had set up a resource recovery facility at the Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology. Biogas plants were set up at Kerala Tourism Development Corporation Hotels and Resorts (KTDC) and on eight cents purchased by KHRA. The plants are defunct now. Ecopreserve, another NGO, took up the task of waste disposal.

This ran into trouble when Ecopreserve had to vacate a building on Harbour road which its 40 volunteers used as a segregation centre. Attempts to move the waste to the 50 cents of land owned by Kerala Tourism at Mayakunnu behind the Light House beach was opposed by hoteliers and local people. The agency is still carrying out the work.

Kerala Tourism had provided Rs.25 lakh for the zero-waste project and Thanal had spent Rs.34 lakh. Over four tonnes of bio-degradable wastes are generated at Kovalam during the peak season. Over 100 sacks of non-biodegradable waste are also generated.