THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
The fifth edition of Kerala Blog Express was flagged off by Minister for Tourism, Co-operation and Devaswom Kadakampally Surendran from Mascot Hotel. The annual blogger outreach campaign, which holds aloft the ‘Trip of a Lifetime’ tag, has brought travel bloggers across the globe to travel the length and breadth of the picturesque state.
30 bloggers from countries such as France, the US, the UK, Canada, Germany, Italy, Spain, Bulgaria, Romania, Venezuela and Peru has embarked on a two-week long journey across the state for the fifth edition of Kerala Blog Express. In the course of their journey they would also be documenting their experiences in Kerala for the travelers who look forward to travelling to the state Bloggers will travel across the hills, beaches, backwaters, villages and various city life experiences in Kerala as a part of the campaign, which will culminate in Kochi on April 1.
Places including Alappuzha, Kumarakom, Thrissur, Munnar, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur and Kasaragod will be covered during the two-week duration. Photos, videos and articles will be uploaded by the travelers and shared among their followers all over the world.
Flagging off the fifth edition of Kerala Blog Express, Kadakampally Surendran said: “Kerala is the only State in the world that has combined social media campaign, familiarisation trip and bloggers meet in one grand event. 30 bloggers selected from 28 countries will travel the length of the State taking in the beauty of Kerala and share their experiences with their followers on social media.
Kerala Blog express has been conducted for the past four years.” “Around 400 blogs were generated from last year’s edition alone.We can can see the results in terms of the increase in tourist arrival to the state in the past one year.” he added.
“Kerala tourism has been on the tourism world map for quite some time now and have received numerous awards and recognition for its innovative campaigns” said Rani George, Secretary, Tourism, delivering the welcome speech. “Apart from the beaches and backwaters I hope the Bloggers will get to experience the heritage and culture of the State in its full authenticity.” she added.
Extending the vote of thanks, P. Bala Kiran, Director, Kerala Tourism said “Kerala Tourism’s efforts to explore new marketing avenues has given birth to blog express underlining its social media presence.” He also urged the bloggers to give importance to the interactions with the locals which would add more colour to their experience in Kerala as a whole.
The Kerala Blog Express, which focuses on various aspects like social media campaign, familiarization trip, bloggers’ meet etc., has emerged into a stalwart campaign for Kerala tourism, helping it set a new benchmark in destination marketing.
Over 100 Brand Ambassadors have collectively participated in the previous editions of Kerala Blog Express, all of whom have shared their mesmerizing ‘Trip of a Lifetime’ experience through blogs. Kerala Tourism had received a slew of entries after the registrations were thrown open for the fifth edition.
The unique campaign had garnered over 5000 entries over the last 5 years, with 1727 entries received for this year alone. Kerala Tourism Additional Director Jafar Malik was present at the event. E M Najeeb, President of Confederation of Tour Operators, Baby Mathew, President of Kerala Travel Mart and P K Aneesh Kumar, President of Association of Tourism and Trade Organisations India also spoke on the occasion.
