Thaindian News

New Delhi, March 27 (IANS) Taxis in several British cities will now sport scenes of Kathakali and the idyllic backwaters of Kerala in a new campaign to attract more tourists to the state.
“The British taxis will sport attention-grabbing Kathakali and backwater images. It is an innovative campaign to showcase a splendid tapestry of Kerala’s scenic grandeur, classical dances and martial arts,” Kerala Tourism Director M. Sivasankar said Saturday in a statement.

As many as 120 cabs with Kerala branding are now operating in Glasgow, Manchester and Birmingham under the state tourism department’s branding exercise aimed at British tourists, who form a a sizeable number of the 650,000 foreigners visiting the state every year, he said.

“The images are generating curiosity among the people in these three British cities,” said Sivasankar, who was in Britain to launch the campaign.

Arrival figures from Great Britain have been showing a steady growth, with 141,147 tourists visiting Kerala in 2008.

For Kerala Tourism, the tie-up with British cabs comes after forging a deal with Indian Railways on the tracks, with Jet Airways in the skies and with Louis Cruises on the high seas.

It has also tied up with Google to create a buzz about the state as a tourist destination.