Kerala Tourism has unveiled new packages and week-long itineraries combining multiple destinations and experiences across the state
As the Festival of Lights Diwali approaches, Kerala Tourism has unveiled new packages and week-long itineraries combining multiple destinations and experiences across the state, while expanding international marketing and promoting lesser-known destinations to attract more domestic and foreign travellers.
Kerala Tourism presented its offerings at a business-to-business partnership meet in New Delhi on Tuesday, promoting week-long itineraries combining beaches, hill stations, backwaters, cultural attractions and heritage sites. The state is targetting both domestic and international travellers during the upcoming holiday period.
According to the latest tourism statistics and trends, there has been an all-season surge in footfalls with the first quarter of 2026 registering a 10.98 pc increase in domestic tourist arrivals compared to Q1 of 2025.
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Sumit Kumar Thakur, Additional Director General, Kerala Tourism, said the state was expanding its international outreach through business-to-business meetings, overseas roadshows and cultural showcases.
Kerala attracts travelers and art lovers worldwide with its rich heritage of classical and folk performing arts, backed by state initiatives to build year-round cultural hubs
“Beyond attracting domestic tourists, we are also working to increase international arrivals to Kerala. We participate in international platforms to showcase the state’s culture and tourism offerings, and organise overseas roadshows with delegations comprising the Tourism Minister, Tourism Secretary, Director and other officials. Through these initiatives, we aim to strengthen Kerala’s presence in international markets, reach a wider audience and attract more foreign visitors. We are also focusing on diversifying our destinations and promoting experiences that appeal to different categories of international travellers,” Thakur told India and You on the sidelines of the event.
P C Vishnunadh
The state is also diversifying its tourism offerings to attract international visitors through MICE, medical value tourism, destination weddings and experiential tourism. Thakur said government was working to increase this share through destination diversification, responsible tourism and sustainable tourism.
The Middle East and European countries are among Kerala’s leading international source markets. The state is also looking to attract visitors through Ayurveda, beaches and experiential tourism. “We have different types of contributions from the Middle East as well as from European countries,” Thakur said, adding that Kerala was also seeing opportunities in medical value tourism.
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The state is targetting different visitor segments, including groups, solo travellers and honeymooners, as well as middle-aged and retired visitors. “It has a wide, diverse group with solo, plus the different groups, plus the people in the middle-age bracket and retirements and all different groups come,” he said.
The promotion comes as the state government prepares to introduce a policy framework granting industry status to tourism, a long-standing demand of stakeholders seeking to encourage investment in the sector.
“Getting industry status has been a long-pending demand of stakeholders in the sector. We expect this decision will yield a lot of investment,” said P C Vishnunadh, Minister for Tourism, Cinema and Cultural Affairs, Government of Kerala, in a message.
K Biju
Kerala is also promoting destinations beyond its established tourism centres. Thakur said the state was positioning Wayanad as an international tourism brand through the Brand Wayanad initiative, launched with a curtain-raiser programme on October 6. Kannur, the Malabar region and the Muziris heritage project are also being promoted to diversify the state’s tourism map.
On international arrivals, Thakur said Kerala was recovering when compared with pre-pandemic levels.
“We are very optimistic that these numbers will increase in future,” he said, citing global push-and-pull factors affecting tourism.
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Anjana M
The state is also upgrading tourism infrastructure to improve accessibility and integrating artificial intelligence and digital tools into tourism services to facilitate information access, itinerary planning and travel logistics.
“The state is well-prepared to receive an increased footfall this season, on the strength of new products and packages that will take visitors through a whole set of highly fascinating places and experiences,” said Biju K, Secretary Tourism, Government of Kerala.
“Our outreach campaigns across the country have received good response, and we are confident that will be reflected during the unfolding season,” said Anjana M, Director, Kerala Tourism.
