Kochi : The state govt has set an ambitious target of five million foreign tourist arrivals in the next five years, besides raising the domestic tourist arrivals to 100 million during the period, chief minister V D Satheesan said on Thursday.




He was speaking after inaugurating the 13th Kerala Travel Mart (KTM 2026), one of the country’s premier tourism and trade events at Bolgatty in Kochi.




In 2025, Keralam recorded 8.22 lakh foreign tourist visits, an increase of 11.33% over 2024. Domestic tourist visits reached 2.51cr, up by 12.64%.




The CM said the state has to promote forest tourism, jungle lodges and trekking and similar verticals in a sustainable manner as Keralam’s unique features.




Noting that port development was a major component of tourism, Satheesan said the govt has given the nod to Cochin Port to set up a second cruise terminal. Another one is on the anvil in Kozhikode . In the second phase, the cruise segment will be expanded to 44 rivers of Keralam. “We want to integrate all ports and make entire Kerala a port city. At least 50% of the logistics can be shifted to the sea,” the CM said.




Later, at a separate event, the CM officially announced the Kerala International Maritime Museum and Oceanarium Foundation in Kochi and released its logo and approach paper.




“Steps will be taken to introduce cruise shipping tourism from Kasaragod to Thiruvananthapuram, he said. Greater emphasis should be given to value addition in the seafood sector to promote the growth of the seafood industry. Tourism, he added, is an important component of blue economy ,” he said.




It has been decided to observe June 19 as Kerala Maritime Day. A maritime conclave will be organised every year.




Tourism minister P C Vishnunadh presided over the inaugural function while excise minister M Liju was the guest of honour.




Vishnunadh said ‘Be a Malayali for a Day’ initiative would be launched during the next Onam season for tourists to experience Keralam by taking them through the traditional lifestyle and cuisine of Keralites.




Liju assured that the excise policy of the govt won’t have any adverse effect on the industry.




The business-to-business (B2B) meetings and exhibition as part of the mart would be held from Sept 25 to 27 at Willingdon Island.




The buyer registrations have crossed 3,000, including 1,200 hosted buyers and 300 non-hosted buyers. The mart will have 383 seller stalls representing tourism enterprises and 25 stalls of various govt institutions.