Kerala Travel Mart 2026 runs 24-27 September at the Sagara-Samudrika Convention Centre in Kochi, with business meets on 25-27 and record buyer registration.
Cover image: Chinese fishing nets at Kochi, the Kerala city that hosts Kerala Travel Mart — photo by Hans A. Rosbach, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Kerala Travel Mart 2026 runs from 24 to 27 September 2026 at the Sagara–Samudrika Convention Centre on Willingdon Island, Kochi. The structured business meets take place on 25–27 September. Organisers reported record buyer registration for this edition, targeting around 4,000 buyers.
What KTM is for
Kerala Travel Mart is an inbound show with a single-state focus, run by the Kerala Travel Mart Society. Kerala's tourism product — backwaters, Ayurveda and wellness, hill stations, homestays and responsible-tourism operators — is presented to domestic and international buyers through pre-scheduled appointments.
The concentration is the strength. A buyer attending KTM meets the Kerala supply base comprehensively in three days, which is difficult to replicate at a national show where the state competes for attention with every other destination in India.
The venue and the timing
Willingdon Island sits in the middle of Kochi's harbour, close to the port and the historic Fort Kochi area. September falls at the tail of the southwest monsoon, which is deliberate: the show sits just before Kerala's October–March high season, so contracting done at KTM feeds the season that follows.
Who should attend
- International and domestic tour operators building or refreshing Kerala programmes.
- Wellness and Ayurveda specialists — Kerala is the anchor destination for this segment in India.
- Kerala-based hotels, resorts, houseboat operators and DMCs seeking buyer contact.
For broader Indian inbound reach, pair it with the Great Indian Travel Bazaar in Jaipur, which covers the country rather than one state.
Why the single-state model works here
Kerala is unusual among Indian states in having a tourism identity coherent enough to support its own international trade show. Backwaters, Ayurveda, hill stations and responsible tourism form a recognisable product set with genuine international demand, rather than a collection of unrelated attractions.
That coherence is why buyers travel for it. A specialist wellness operator can meet thirty relevant Kerala suppliers in three days — a density unavailable at any national show, where Kerala competes for attention with every other state.
The homestay and responsible tourism angle
KTM has consistently given space to smaller operators, homestays and community tourism initiatives alongside resort groups. For buyers seeking product that differentiates from standard resort inventory, that part of the floor is often the most useful, and it is the part least likely to be reachable through normal distribution channels.
Timing your visit
Arriving a day or two early is worth considering. Fort Kochi and the surrounding backwaters are within easy reach of the venue, and seeing the product before the meetings makes for materially better conversations than reading about it afterwards.
Frequently asked questions
When is Kerala Travel Mart 2026?
KTM 2026 runs 24-27 September 2026 at the Sagara-Samudrika Convention Centre, Willingdon Island, Kochi. Business meets are held 25-27 September.
Is Kerala Travel Mart inbound or outbound?
Inbound. Kerala hotels, resorts, houseboat operators and DMCs present their product to visiting domestic and international buyers.
How many buyers attend Kerala Travel Mart?
The 2026 edition targeted around 4,000 buyers, with organisers reporting record registration.
Part of our 2026–2027 travel trade show calendar, which carries verified dates for 40+ shows and roadshows worldwide.
