Right climate round the year. Packed with a plethora of tourism opportunities. Pouring business interests and rapid economic growth. Three international airports strategically located at equidistance and an ideally suited attractive international convention center. Already established as leisure and culture tourism destination, the God’s Own Country is fast emerging as a business and meetings hot-hub, better known as Meetings Incentives Conventions and Exhibitions (MICE) destination.
Convention or business tourism is no more a conventional type of tourism, which formerly meant only business and nothing else. Things have changed for better. Business combined with leisure is the take-me-all ticket to heaven. After all who wants to come and gather in an exotic place for just one purpose, spending hundreds or thousands of dollars for that matter, only to pack up and go off, after a sober and straight jacket-and-tie business conference or a soul-rousing religious convention, without experiencing the charm of the place visited.
Major Convention Centres in Kerala
1.The Taj Residency Trivandrum
The Taj Residency has a large reception hall and boardroom for conferences and banquets. Summit seats up to 600 people. There are 140 rooms available and Hotel is centrally located and is just half an hour drive from Trivandrum airport
2. Le Meridien Cochin Resort & Convention Centre
The hotel offers a convention centre that has 12 halls with 52,000 square feet of air-conditioned space and theatre-style seating capacities ranging from 50 to 2,500 people. The hotel, which is spread across 25 acres, offers 95,000 square feet of lawn space adjoining the backwaters, which can accommodate up to 7,000 persons and is an ideal for open-air gala events. The hotel also offers an array of leisure facilities to escape from the hustle and bustle of the city
3. Lulu International convention Centre
- Cochin Lulu Convention Centre is the largest in Kerala with a capacity of nearly 5000 delegates
- Second largest in India
- Spacious A/C Auditorium with 2000 seats
- Open Air Auditorium with 2000 seats
- 3 A/C Mini-Conference Halls with 250 seats each
- Dining/Buffet with 2000 seats A/C & Non A/C
- Lulu Garden Hotel with 40 Rooms and Multicuisine Restaurant "Clay Oven"
- Board Room Facility for up to 15 pax with all amenities
- Parking facility for 1800 cars
- Exclusive Helipad facility of international standards
- Catering Service for 500 to 5000
- Kids Play Park
4. Hotel Leela Kempinski Kovalam
The Leela Kempinski Kovalam Beach , Kerala has a Convention Centre that can host about to a thousand delegates, making it the largest beach-side business venue in all of South India . Our other venues can handle groups of between 30 and 100 people
- RGC - Rajiv Gandhi Convention Centre is the largest Convention Centre in Kerala. With an in-built stage, state-of-the-art audio-visuals
- Maya - a daylit conference room overlooking the beach is ideal locations for conferences of 30-40 peoples
- A traditional Kerala hall, perfect for wedding, is grafted in local architecture element. Pandhal , situated next to the convention centre
Upcoming Projects
1 . Aakulam International Convention Centre
The Aakulam International Convention Centre is a massive hospitality project coming up along the shores of the Aakulam Lake . It is a PPP development by the realty major Raheja Group and the Govt. of Kerala. It will comprise an international convention centre, luxury hotel, shopping mall and more. The Rs 150 Crore project has already kicked off. Here are some pre-bid perspectives from the website of the initial architects, the Kumar Group. They sure are spectacular and I hope the final design will be close to this
2 . The Raheja Group
The country will get another international convention centre in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. This will be the second for South India, the first being the Hyderabad International Convention Centre
The Raheja Group has won the bid which was put forth by Government of Kerala to commence work for the convention centre. The two will have a Special Purpose Wheel (SPW), which is a legal entity between them with the state government holding a 26 per cent stake and the rest will lie with the Raheja Group. The convention centre, to be built in the technopark compound in Thiruvananthapuram, is being built with an investment of Rs 100 to Rs 140 crore. It will be promoted as Chalet Hotels and is proposed to be completed in the next two years
3 . Munnar-T&U Leisure hotel
T & U Leisure Hotel is a 3-Star category Hotel in Munnar is located 500 meters from the Munnar Town ( Kerala , India )
This is a new hotel in Munnar offering best of facilities and Services Such as:
• Multi Cuisine Restaurant (With Buffets during Season)
• Large and Spacious Rooms overlooking the Tea Gardens
• Conference Hall-100 seater conference hall in t&u simply stately true to all modern standards
• Doctor On Call
• Travel Desk
• Car Parking
• Internet Facilities
Beach Resorts in Kerala
1.Estuary island- Poovar
The Estuary Island Resort has excellent facilities for seminars, meetings and staging of special events. Our Conference hall can accommodate 150 people in the theatre style and 75 people in the 'u' shape arrangement, providing up-to-date audio-visual equipment and high class hospitality to ensure that all meetings are fruitful. Theme dinner parties to suit the occasion and outdoor dining facilities with a natural difference
2. Taj Garden Retreat –Varkala
One room with a capacity for 40 persons auditorium style, 27 persons classroom style, or 40 persons for cocktails/receptions. The hotel lawn can be used to host receptions for up to 100 persons
Wild life Resorts-Thekkady
1.Muthoot Cardamomcounty
The conference hall being the largest in the vicinity has a capacity of 200-300 in theatre style seating and makes an ideal setting for combining business with leisure
Houseboat - Kerala
Traditionally, the houseboat was called kettuvallom, which means a boat made by tying together pieces of wood. Incredable may sound, not a single nail is used in the making of a kettuvallom. Jack wood planks are joined together with coir rope and then coated with black resin made from boiled cashew nut shells. Today, these giant 80 foot long crafts have been adapted into luxuriously furnished houseboats. A kettuvallom usually has one or two bath attached bed rooms, an open lounge, deck, kitchenette and a crew compreising oarsmen, a cook and guide
Exclusive Features of the Houseboat :
Each houseboat is of excellent construction and luxurious furnishing, with exquisite flooring, hull and valavara (canopy). They are in top cruise worthy condition
Rainbow is provided with a sun deck, spacious living / dining area (200 sq. ft.), 2 bedrooms (100 sq. ft.), separate toilets for the crew, spacious passage and a neat, classy kitchen (75 sq. ft.).
Adequate numbers of buoys are provided and so are fire buckets
The boat has plentiful supply of purified water
Clean, good quality linen, blankets, towels etc. and high quality crockery and glassware are used on the boat
Logbooks and tourist records are updated regularly and the boat has a valid license. Uniformed experienced staff conversant in English mans the boat
Conference Houseboat
Specialty: A/c 6 Bed-room, with Upper deck A/c Conference hall (150 pax)
