THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: During the inaugural investor meeting organized by the Tourism Department, an investment offer of 15,116.65 crores was extended with 12,605.55 crores from the private sector and 2,511.10 crores from the government sector via private participation.

A significant Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) worth 250 crores was signed with Tamara Leisure Pvt Ltd for houseboat hotel projects in Alappuzha and Kannur. This project is environmentally friendly and marked as a green initiative. The MoU was exchanged between Shruti Shibulal, the CEO of the company and S. Premkrishnan, the Additional Director of Tourism.

The event was inaugurated by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan at the Hyatt Regency Hotel, where he emphasized Kerala's potential to become the foremost tourism investment hub in the country.

The meeting saw the participation of around 500 investors and entrepreneurs, including 46 startups and 118 entrepreneurs from the responsible tourism sector. Introduction of 112 projects took place consisting of 73 from the private sector, 23 from the government sector, and 16 proposed as private partnership ventures.

Notable figures present at the event included Minister P.A. Mohammad Riaz, Tourism Secretary K Biju, S.K. Sajeesh, Chairman of Kerala Tourism Infrastructure Limited and K Manoj Kumar, the Managing Director, among others.

To advance further actions, decisions were made:

1. Establishment of a Facilitation Centre to follow up on investment meeting proposals.

2. Formation of a Coordinating Committee of Departmental Secretaries, led by the Tourism Secretary, to approve initiatives.

3. The Coordinating Committee's role will involve intervening if projects encounter obstacles.

4. Regular review meetings at the ministerial level were decided upon.

These measures aim to streamline the process and ensure effective implementation of the discussed initiatives in the tourism sector.