Thiruvananthapuram: The fabled nature, culture and cuisine of ‘God’s Own Country’ is all set to receive a global audience this year with two of the biggest TV channels in the world arriving in Kerala to host shows dedicated to the state.
The crews of BBC World from the United Kingdom and NTV Broadcasting Company of Russia are setting up the broadcast of their shows at the invitation of Kerala Tourism.
The shows will be beamed around the world informing a global audience about the abundant nature of the state as well as its culture and culinary delights, a Kerala Tourism release said here today.
‘The Travel Show’ on the BBC World and ‘Let’s go, let’s eat’ on NTV, will be shot in various parts of Kerala as part of familiarization (FAM) trips organised by the Kerala Tourism.
“Kerala Tourism regularly organises FAM trips for renowned travel writers journalists, TV crews and tour operators. As the New Year begins, we are privileged to host shows in two of the most popular channels abroad,” Kerala Tourism Minister A P Anilkumar said.
The BBC World team has already arrived for a six-day tour of Kerala for showcasing the state’s backwaters, home stays, village life experience and culture to be captured in Alappuzha and Kochi, the release said.
To highlight the aspect of Responsible Tourism (RT), the TV crew will capture details on shell collection in Alappuzha. They will also spend some time in Kochi to study the nuances of Kathakali make-up, it said.
Kerala Tourism will organise a coconut climbing competition, which will also be filmed by the TV crew. It will be held in two parts – the first between traditional climbers and the second being men versus machines.
The BBC team is on a personal invite from Tourism Secretary G Kamala Vardhana Rao during his visit last year to London where he had met British MPs to discuss promoting tourism in Kerala and investments in the state tourism sector.
“We are extremely happy that they have accepted our invitation. I see this as a golden opportunity to market our state internationally,” Rao said.
“Considering the increasing numbers of Russian visitors to our state,NTV decided to explore our varied culinary practices for the benefit of their citizens,” the Secretary said.
The team of NTV’s new culinary and ethnographic project will be in Kerala from Jan 15 to 18 will cover places like Kochi – mainly Jews street in Fort Kochi, RT activities in Kumarakom and tourist destinations like Varkala and Thiruvananthapuram.