Kochi: While Kerala’s tourism industry is putting all efforts this week into wooing international tourism promoters at the Kerala Travel Mart in Kochi, the state has an unlikely brand ambassador in the form of a former policewoman from England.
Daphne Richards, 84, from Hampshire, England has become so fond of Kerala over the years that she has visited the state as many as 20 times on vacation in the past 16 years.
In a twist to the tale, she has stayed at the Marari beach resort on the outskirts of Alappuzha every time she came to Kerala.
Speaking to Gulf News about her fascination for Kerala, Richards said, “Everyone here is so friendly, I have never felt unsafe”.
The octogenarian has grown so familiar with the property where she makes annual visits that she considers the staff and owners family.
In her younger days, she worked as a secretary in the police department in England, beginning her career at Portsmouth.
It was after her husband’s demise that Richards began her sojourns to Kerala, and slowly fell in love with the destination.
Nearly 300 international buyers and some 800 domestic buyers are attending the Kerala Travel Mart, and organisers are expecting roughly 25,000 appointments to take place between buyers and sellers over the three days of the event. International buyers attending the event are drawn from 57 countries.
Kerala tourism has faced challenging times in recent months owing to the previous government’s push for total prohibition in the state, as well as the emergence of a number of competitors including Sri Lanka, and even neighbouring states like Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
The state is rolling out the red carpet to the tourism buyers from around the world, even giving them complimentary stay at hotels in Kochi during the days of the travel mart and another few days of familiarisation tours around the state after the event concludes.
