His first tryst with Kerala eventually resulted in frequenting what Mr. Thomas E King calls as the ‘cool’ destination, many more times in future. Now recently on his 23rd visit to Kerala, Mr. King reminisces fond memories of Kerala. 

Mr. King hails from Australia and is the Executive Editor of Media East Pvt Ltd. He is a great admirer of Kerala’s backwater and enjoys a serene houseboat cruise in the backwaters of Kuttanad. He is also in praise of the local people and their lifestyle, which is equally impressive as the scenic beauty of the land. Among his memorable stays in Kerala, Mr. King still relishes the morning hours, while staying at Aranya Nivas in Thekkady. He has high opinion with regards to the Kochi International Airport, which he feels as an ideal entry point for tourists from abroad.

Among the USPs, Mr. King identifies hill stations, backwaters, heritage, ayurveda and culture, which are having the potential to bring good dividends to Kerala Tourism. He lauded the efforts of Kerala Tourism in the manner in which it has marketed Kerala internationally. Mr. King also suggested value addition to Kerala’s existing tourism infrastructure and cited eco-tourism as the catchword for Kerala Tourism in the future.

His first tryst with Kerala eventually resulted in frequenting what Mr. Thomas E King calls as the ‘cool’ destination, many more times in future. Now recently on his 23rd visit to Kerala, Mr. King reminisces fond memories of Kerala. 

Mr. King hails from Australia and is the Executive Editor of Media East Pvt Ltd. He is a great admirer of Kerala’s backwater and enjoys a serene houseboat cruise in the backwaters of Kuttanad. He is also in praise of the local people and their lifestyle, which is equally impressive as the scenic beauty of the land. Among his memorable stays in Kerala, Mr. King still relishes the morning hours, while staying at Aranya Nivas in Thekkady. He has high opinion with regards to the Kochi International Airport, which he feels as an ideal entry point for tourists from abroad.

Among the USPs, Mr. King identifies hill stations, backwaters, heritage, ayurveda and culture, which are having the potential to bring good dividends to Kerala Tourism. He lauded the efforts of Kerala Tourism in the manner in which it has marketed Kerala internationally. Mr. King also suggested value addition to Kerala’s existing tourism infrastructure and cited eco-tourism as the catchword for Kerala Tourism in the future.

Mr. King was of the opinion that when it comes to environment-friendly tourist activities, sports items like canoeing, sailing, bicycle tours, golf etc should be encouraged in destinations. Mr. King referred Munnar as an ideal locale for providing cycling facility for tourists. On new avenues for enhancing Kerala’s tourism potential, Mr. King mentioned some novel concepts like ‘theme tours’ and ‘theme dinners’ organized by big companies for publicity and marketing. 

While in Kerala, Mr. King enjoys ‘Appam’ and ‘Puttu, two popular breakfast dishes of Kerala, and admires very much the warmth and friendly demeanour of the educated and hospitable people of Kerala, who have a flair to interact freely with other cultures.

At the end of our conversation with Mr. King, we felt the need to have more people like him, whose thoughts and visions can really augur well for Kerala Tourism….let us hope that he makes his 24th trip to Kerala, pretty soon.