Kerala Travel Mart (KTM), scheduled for September 24 to 27 in Kochi, has set an all-time record with 2,360 buyer registrations. This includes 610 international buyers and 1,750 domestic buyers. Media interest has also grown, with 117 media registrations so far, including 60 international and 57 domestic media houses.
The mart will feature 366 sellers (exhibitors) along with 25 delegates across various sponsorship and government stalls.
Chief Minister V D Satheesan will inaugurate the 13th edition of KTM, India’s largest tourism and hospitality sector business event, on September 24 in Kochi. The grand inaugural ceremony will take place at the Grand Hyatt Convention Centre in Bolgatty. B2B meetings and other event proceedings will be held at the Sagara and Samudrika Convention Centres at Willingdon Island, Kochi, from September 25 to 27.
Minister for Tourism and Culture P.C. Vishnunadh said at a recent press conference that the government is preparing a framework to implement industry status for Kerala’s tourism sector, according to the proposal announced in the recent state budget. Minister Vishnunadh noted that inbound tourist arrivals to Kerala have continued to grow despite the conflict in the Middle East. He highlighted a rise in visitors from Arab countries, many of whom are drawn to Kerala’s monsoon tourism experiences.
The Minister added that the Tourism Department is focused on showcasing Kerala’s core strengths, including its rich cultural heritage, performing arts and cuisine. “These are areas where Kerala enjoys a unique advantage and faces little direct competition,” he said.
The three-day event will encompass business meets, policy-making conventions, and focused seminars led by national and international industry experts. The post-event tours are scheduled for September 28 to October 3, organised across twelve distinct geographic tracks. A dedicated pre-mart tour program will also be conducted specifically for invited foreign and domestic journalists.
A defining feature of this edition is its full transition to a digital ecosystem. All core mart procedures, from user registrations to business-to-business (B2B) meetings, will be fully digitised through new software and a dedicated mobile application.
As part of introducing innovative tourism products, the Wedding and MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences, and Exhibitions) Conclave, recently organised by KTM in partnership with the State Tourism Department, was a major success. The conclave concluded with major announcements, including the upcoming formation of the Kerala Convention Promotion Bureau and a dedicated sector-specific policy.
Tourism Secretary K. Biju noted that KTM has the potential to expand into a global trade fair with participation from all nations. He added that this transition will unlock major global opportunities for tour operators and tourism businesses based in India.
Tourism Director M. Anjana said the event offers a prime opportunity for all active stakeholders in the industry to closely study the latest emerging trends in the tourism market.
Tourism Additional Director Sreedhanya Suresh, KTM President Shri Jose Pradeep, Secretary Shri S. Swaminathan, former presidents Shri Baby Mathew, Shri Abraham George and Shri E.M. Najeeb, Treasurer Shri Jibran Asif, and Joint Secretary Shri Jobin Joseph attended the press conference.
Kerala was the first state in India to launch a Travel Mart in 2000. The biennial event has since attracted more and more delegates to ‘God’s Own Country’.
By: Madhura Katti – © 2026.
Read Time: 3 minutes.
Author Bio:
Madhura Katti never simply chose travel; it chose her. Trained in hotel management in Bangalore, she quickly understood that journeys are about people, not places. By the nineties, she wrote about travel and food with natural authority, later earning a Best Travel Writer award that surprised no one who had read her work.
Storytelling soon moved to film. Her documentary work with Indigenous India captured the spirit of a country in motion and won a National Award for Best Tourism Film.
After years with TTG Asia and Aviation International News, she brought her seasoned judgement to Global Travel Media, where she now guides coverage across India and South Asia steady, perceptive, and unmistakably human.
