We had been to the Kerala Travel Mart 2018 held at the sprawling Samundika in Wellington Island, Kochi.

We had to park the car over a kilometre from the site which has a huge parking area which was full and overflowing into the road.

Hundreds of stalls by tourism companies welcomed visitors with friendly staff and attractive brochures and explanations.

I didn’t feel overselling by any of them, but a confidence on their products were clearly evident. This after the damages in the recent floods is heartwarming.

One major player explained to me that the previous two days which were exclusively for the international players witnessed huge overseas interest and demand for Kerala tourism.

And I was happy to meet a young lady, a relative, who was showcasing her lunch scheme in her ancestral house, en route to Munnar. She said it’s pre-booked lunch to tourists mostly from Europe and she’s very busy.

Perhaps I should have a stall in another year’s time!