T’puram: Amid frosty ties with its southern neighbour United States, Canadians are increasingly reconsidering their holiday plans.Given the political climate, industry experts believe that the state govt needs to organise tourism roadshows in Canada to attract travellers from the North American country.Though Canada is considered a potential tourism market — with international buyers there having shown interest in the Kerala Travel Mart — Kerala Tourism is yet to undertake direct marketing there.A citizen collective from Ontario has already met Thiruvananthapuram mayor V V Rajesh and transport minister C P John to explore cooperation in tourism and different fields between the provinces.S Jasper Kujavsky, a lawyer and community builder based in Hamilton in Ontario, said that Canadians are not travelling to US and that is a great opportunity for India. “For many of them, India means Goa. Keralam has a huge potential to attract them,” he said.Kujavsky added, “We are trying to start community level cooperations and exchange programme of students and youngsters in sports so that there will be exposure about Keralam.”He also said that the South Asian population is huge in Canada. “We have discussed about potential for tourism and education with the minister. There is a positive response,” he said.Syam Chandra, another member of the collective, said the initiative was aimed at creating an opportunity for the premier of Ontario to visit Thiruvananthapuram and for Keralam’s chief minister to travel to Ontario, leading to greater cooperation and awareness of the state’s tourism potential.M K Ajit Kumar of India Tourism Forum said, “Canada is a huge market for Keralam and the state tourism department should start direct promotions and should also encourage private players. Canadians are not coming to Keralam partly due to lack of awareness about the place.”
