By IANS,
Thiruvananthapuram : Tourism Ministers from the southern states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka and the union territories of Puducherry, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep will meet in Kollam Saturday-Sunday to chalk out joint strategies.
The second Southern Regional Conference of Tourism Ministers “will chalk out strategies to attract foreign tourists to south India in a big way through joint initiatives. Kerala Tourism will also explore possibilities of launching joint programmes with other states besides draw up a plan to link the employment guarantee scheme with the responsible tourism projects,” Kerala Tourism Minister A.P. Anilkumar said Thursday.
The event would be inaugurated by Union Tourism Minister Subodh Kant Sahay and would be addressed by Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy.
“The conference will discuss the possibilities of launching inter-state tourism circuits with the help of private players. The states will explore cooperation in human resources development in the hospitality sector through skill development, skill certification and broad-basing of education,” said Kerala Tourism director Rani George.