A rich experience code-named Kerala

Thiruvananthapuram: At a time Kerala gets negative publicity beyond its borders, a group of travellers from north India got a first-hand experience of what the state is all about.
“Our whole concept about Kerala changed, thanks to a well-curated itinerary which took us beyond the picturesque beauty of the state,” Delhiite Mamata Narula said after a 10-day “lifetime experience”, organized as part of the state tourism department’s ‘GoKerala’ campaign.
Rich with the experience, she and her fellow travellers urged the tourism department to focus more on the state’s experiential and cultural aspects in its promotional campaigns.
“Kerala can really leverage on its rich traditions, culture and village life to lure more tourists,” she said.
Mamata was among the five lucky couples from Delhi, Mumbai and Gujarat, who had begun their journey from Kasaragod on November 11. They were interacting with tourism officials at Kovalam, on concluding their Kerala experience on Tuesday.
The travellers also suggested that Kerala should highlight its other USPs, which included tourists’ safety, and scope for authentic and adventurous activities like fishing and scuba diving.
‘GoKerala’, a content-led, multiple platform campaign with a dedicated microsite, integrated touchpoints and targeted reach had reached out to 10 million users with 3,500 entries for the contest. The campaign was rolled out jointly with HolidayIQ.com
The prize was an all-expense paid trip covering varied attractions of ‘God’s Own Country’, but avoiding popular destinations.
The experiential campaign, unlike traditional marketing campaigns, was powered by the experiences and reviews of authentic travellers. The organizers have received 3000 pictures, besides 650 reviews and stories in the form of videos and texts.
Asserting that domestic tourism formed Kerala’s ‘bread and butter’, tourism director P Bala Kiran said the state also wanted to leverage digital platforms and ‘honest and credible’ reviews by opinion-making communities.
“Though foreign tourists give us an aspirational value, our real source markets are within the country. And crowd-sourced content generation on digital platforms becomes very vital in luring tourists to Kerala,” he said.
Kiran also said the state had witnessed 200% increase in tourist arrivals from Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Delhi over the past three years. “We have also realised that the future is with online marketing platforms. Campaigns like GoKerala and Kerala Bloggers are expected to get us the necessary edge in digital marketing,” he said.
Hari Nair, CEO of HolidayIQ, said the Indian travellers lacked a digital platform to air their views. “We are now a community of five million travellers,” he said.