Kerala Travel Mart 2026 to be Held in Kochi in September

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
Kerala Travel Mart (KTM), India’s largest tourism and hospitality industry event, will be held in Kochi from September 24 to 27.

The 13th edition of the three-day event will feature business-to-business meetings, policy-level discussions and seminars, attended by leading industry stakeholders and national and international experts, Tourism Minister PA Mohamed Riyas told a press conference here today.

The inauguration of the event will be held at Grand Hyatt Kochi, Bolgatty, on September 24. The business meetings, the central feature of the event, will be held from September 25 to 27 at the Sagara and Samudrika Convention Centre on Willingdon Island.

The upcoming edition of KTM will attract 400-plus international buyers and 1500-plus domestic buyers including hosted buyers and high-value MICE & wedding planners. Kerala Travel Mart Society, which organises KTM, will make further efforts to increase the participation of buyers from new markets, while ramping up the number of buyers from the existing markets.

“KTM 2026 will have more than 400 seller stalls of different dimensions. Across three days, it will facilitate 60,000-plus pre-scheduled B2B meetings,” he said.

Noting that tour operators and travel agents have a major role in tourism development, Shri Riyas said KTM is a perfect platform for buyers and sellers to get a vivid understanding about the tourism potential of Kerala. According to the Minister, KTM will lead to bringing in innovative transformation in tourism sector.

Riyas also launched the promotional video of KTM 2026. Kerala Tourism Secretary Biju K unveiled the revamped website of Kerala Travel Mart Society.

KTM Society President Jose Pradeep said all procedures related to the mart, including registration, B2B meetings and seminars will be fully digitised, with a refurbished software and a mobile application being used.

Kerala Tourism Additional Director (General), Sreedhanya Suresh; KTM Honorary Secretary S Swaminathan; Vice President Harikumar C; Treasurer Jibran Asif; Joint Secretary Jobin Joseph and KTM Past President EM Najeeb, were also present.

Post-event tours are scheduled from September 28 to October 3, across twelve different sectors. Familiarisation tours for invited foreign and domestic media representatives will be conducted ahead of the event.

KTM 2024 had a record participation of buyers both international and domestic. As part of showcasing new tourism products, KTM, in collaboration with the State Tourism Department, organised a Wedding and MICE Tourism Summit last year, which was also a major success.

The summit had concluded with key announcements, including the formation of a MICE and Wedding Tourism Promotion Bureau and the introduction of a dedicated policy for the sector.

Focused efforts will be made to attract a greater number of foreign buyers from new markets, as well as to identify and bring in new buyers from existing markets to participate in the mart.