Press Release: India Tourism Promotion at BITE 2015 and Kerala Evening
06/28/2015
Press Release
India Tourism, Government of Keralaand Government of Andhra Pradesh participated at the Beijing InternationalTourism Expo(BITE) 2015 from 26-28 June 2015.
Hon’ble Minister for Tourism, Government ofKerala, Shri. A.P. Anil Kumar led the Kerala delegation accompanied by Shri.Jiji Thomson, Chief Secretary Govt. Kerala, Shri. Kamalavardhana Rao,Secretary(Tourism) Govt. Kerala, a 8 member troupe of Kathakali and Kalari Payattu artistsand 12 member business delegation from tourism industry as part of the KeralaPavilion. Shri. Neerabh Kumar Prasad, Pr. Secretary (Tourism) Govt. AndhraPradesh led a 4 member delegation to BITE as part the Andhra Pradesh Pavilionand India Tourism Office Beijing coordinated the Incredible India Pavilion with14 travel/tour operators who also participated at the BITE 2015.
The Kerala Pavilion and Andhra PradeshPavilion were jointly inaugurated by H.E.Ambassador Ashok K Kantha, Shri. Jiji Thomson, Chief Secretary Govt. of Kerala,along with Chinese dignitaries, Ms. Chen Hong, Vice Mayor of Beijing and Mr.Wang Xiaofeng, Vice-Chairman China National Tourism Administration soon afterthe opening ceremony of BITE on 26th June 2015.
Embassy of India and Government of Kerala jointly organizeda special Press conference and Kerala Evening at Embassy premises on 26th June2015 which was attended by over 140 delegates drawn from local media,travel media, social media, film industry, travel and tourism sector. Hon'bleMinister for Tourism, Govt. of Kerala, Shri. A. P. Anil Kumar delivered the keynote address and recalled the historicallinkages between Kerala and China and welcomed the Chinese tourists to explorethe backwaters, Ayurveda and the unique culture of Kerala. He also invited theChinese travelers to experience the ‘responsible tourism’ culture of Keralathat makes tourism an integrated part of the local society and livelihood inKerala. H.E. Ambassdor Ashok K Kantha delivered theopening remarks and said as part of Visit India Year in China 2015 launchedearly this year India looked forward to increase the number of Chinese touriststravelling to India. Ambassador said that the E-Tourist Visa facility would besoon launched in China and this will enable Chinese tourist travelers toexperience a seamless, hassle free travel to India This was followed by presentation on Kerala and Andhra Pradeshas tourist destinations in India and an interaction with the media.
Kathakali- an ancient dance-drama art form of Kerala was performed byveteran artists trained for 25 years who enacted an extract from Mahabharata,the story of Bhim and Panchali. Kalari Payattu the martial art form of Kerala was presented along with Shaolin Kung-fu which brought together two ancient martial art forms of Indiaand China that have historical linkages. BothKathakali and Kalari Payattu cultural performances were also held at the BITEvenue for the Chinese public and at the Indian Embassy for the Indian Communityin Beijing on 27th June 2015.
