Kerala Travel Mart 2026 to begin on Thursday

Kochi, Sept 23: The 12th edition of the Kerala Travel Mart (KTM 2026), one of the country’s leading tourism and trade events, will begin here on Thursday, marking the largest participation in its 25-year-long history and celebrating the synergy between the government and private enterprises in the tourism sector.

Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan will formally inaugurate the biennial mart at Grand Hyatt, Bolgatty, which has recorded 3,000 plus registrations from India and abroad.

The business-to-business (B2B) meetings and exhibition as part of the mart will be held from September 25 to 27 at the Sagara and Samudrika Convention Centres on Willingdon Island.

Tourism, Culture and Cinema Minister P.C. Vishnunadh will preside over the inaugural function, while Cooperation and Excise Minister M. Liju will be the chief guest. MLAs Tony Chammany, T.J. Vinod, Mohammed Shiyas and Deepak Joy, and Kochi Corporation Mayor Adv. Minimol V.K. will attend the function.

Mr Suman Billa, Additional Secretary and Director General, Ministry of Tourism, Govt. of India, will deliver the keynote address. Kerala Tourism Secretary K. Biju will make a presentation on Kerala Tourism, while Kerala Tourism Director M. Anjana will release the ‘Sellers Directory’ brought out as part of the mart.

Cochin International Airport Ltd (CIAL) Managing Director S. Suhas, Ernakulam District Collector G. Priyanka, and KTDC Managing Director and Kerala Tourism Additional Director Sumith Kumar Thakur will also attend.

The list of attendees includes former KTM presidents Baby Mathew, Jose Dominic, E.M. Najeeb, Riaz Ahmed and Abraham George.

KTM Society President Jose Pradeep will welcome the gathering and Secretary S. Swaminathan will propose the vote of thanks.

A cultural programme organised jointly by the Department of Tourism and KTM will be held in the evening after the inaugural session.

The buyer registrations have crossed 3,000, and these include 1,200 hosted buyers and 300 non-hosted buyers. The mart will have 383 seller stalls representing tourism enterprises and 25 stalls of various government institutions.

More than 45,000 business meetings have been scheduled, aimed at attracting investments in Kerala’s tourism sector and visitors to the state.

As many as 138 media representatives — 71 international and 67 national journalists — will cover the mart.

This year’s KTM will operate on a new software system and mobile application, with registration, business meetings, seminars and other procedures fully digitised.

Post-mart tours to 12 major destinations across the state have also been arranged for selected participants from September 28 to October 3.