Google to promote Kerala with advertisement slots

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala has tied up with Google to promote its tourism through search and banner advertisements on the search engine.

This is the first time a state tourism department is partnering with the global search engine for such an advertisement campaign, Google officials have said.

Narasimha Jayakumar, business head of Google India, said the three-month campaign started last week and the responses had been "tremendous".

Now, if somebody sitting in Britain, the United States, Canada or India does a Google search on something related to tourism, Kerala Tourism's website link will appear on the right side of the page along with the search results.

"A click on that [link] would lead the person to get all information on Kerala Tourism," Jayakumar said.

He, however, declined to reveal the cost of the campaign, which started at a "right time" as the state's tourist season has just begun.

"The beauty of our service is that Kerala Tourism will get ready information on responses at real time. We are certain that through this campaign, the number of visitors to the Kerala Tourism website will go up by 40 per cent," Jayakumar added.

Early this month, the tourism industry in the state got a huge boost when a survey, conducted by the National Geographic Society's Centre for Sustainable Destinations, rated the backwaters here as the world's 23rd best destination.

Growth

Jayakumar said a Google team would meet the leading players of Kerala's tourist industry between December 25 and 26, seeking alliances with them.

Over the years, the tourism industry in the state has recorded a consistent growth.