A Faraway Land Four Hours Away | Newsbytes for the month of August 2016

KERALA TOURISM NEWSLETTER

ISSUE: 276

AUGUST 2016

Taxi Cab Campaign Launched in Dubai

With the onset of outbound tourism season in the Middle East, Kerala Tourism has launched a unique promotional campaign in Dubai to invite the attention of Arab travellers to Kerala by displaying the spellbinding locales of Kerala on taxis. The taxi cabs in Dubai now move around bathed in spectacular visuals of God’s Own Country.

A total of 200 taxis have been roped in for the campaign. Bearing the message ‘A Faraway Land Four Hours Away’, they move through the streets of Dubai, adorned in a plethora of Kerala visuals comprising mountain ranges, backwaters, waterfalls, and Ayurvedic treatments. The campaign is intended for promoting Kerala as a destination to escape from the scorching heat of the Middle-East countries.

“Apart from the favourable climate, the relative proximity and air connectivity between the cities of the Middle-East and Kerala will help attract the travellers,” said Dr. Venu V., Principal Secretary, Kerala Tourism. Being the hub of air travel, Dubai was the natural choice to roll out the campaign, he added.

“Since the monsoon season in Kerala coincides with the holiday season in Gulf countries, Kerala can benefit hugely by targeting travellers, who can get away from the scorching heat to the soothing climate of Kerala,” said Mr. U. V. Jose, Director, Kerala Tourism.

The campaign acknowledges the growing importance of the outbound tourist market in the Middle-East. The market, which saw a significant increase of nine percent in 2015 in outbound trips, has become one of the fastest growing sectors. In 2015, more than one lakh Arab tourists visited Kerala, of which 20,506 tourists were from UAE alone. A good majority of tourists came from Saudi Arabia (51,149 visitors), while 18,763 visitors were from Oman.