THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The first-ever summit of the nonresident Keralites (NRK) to promote investments in the tourism sector back home has evoked tremendous response, according to organizers.
“We initially were expecting investment proposals worth 5 billion rupees. It has now crossed 10 billion rupees and at least 600 delegates have already confirmed their participation in the meet,” said TK Manzoor, the event’s convener and managing director of the state-owned Tourist Resorts (Kerala) Limited. “Delegates are coming from 42 countries including Cameroon, Kazakhstan, Ethiopia and Finland where there are not many migrants from Kerala.”
Gulf countries account for a majority of the potential investors. The largest contingent is from the UAE (143) followed by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (54), Bahrain (30), Kuwait (27), Qatar (23), UK (23) and Oman (20). Some 200 delegates are Malayalees settled in other parts of the country.
Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan will inaugurate the two-day ‘Ente Nadu’ (My Country) meet to be held at Le Meridian in Kochi on Tuesday.
“We have short-listed some 75 projects to be developed jointly by the investors and the local entrepreneurs, requiring investments ranging from 10 million rupees to 3 billion rupees. The TRKL will act as a facilitator for viable projects,” Manzoor said.
These projects were short-listed from some 200 proposals received from the local entrepreneurs. The proposals include hill resorts, island resorts, farm tourism, eco tourism, medical tourism, wax museum, heritage museum, homestays, houseboats, service apartments, ayurveda health resorts and convention centers. “The projects include new and existing ones that require funds for expansion and diversification,” he said.
The TRKL has already collaborated with the hotel chain Taj for Taj Garden Retreat in Kumarakom and Varkala and Taj Residency in Ernakulam. “Having played a key role in spreading the social and cultural heritage of our state around the world, we now look forward to the wholehearted support of NRKs in helping us script Kerala Tourism’s success story,” Tourism Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said recently while unveiling www.keralatourism.org/nrkmeet, the event’s website.
