Thiruvananthapuram: Authorities are almost decided on nominating Steffi Graf and Shah Rukh Khan as ambassadors for Kerala tourism. After initial discussions and fixing of their remuneration, both the celebrities would represent Kerala Tourism.
The government is planning to highlight Ayurveda among the foreign tourists by hiring Graf as its ambassador. She would promote Ayurveda as a means to sustain health and youthfulness. Even though Steffi has retired from tennis, she is popular all over the world and the government is trying to use her mass appeal to make Ayurveda popular in nations such as Germany. Shah Rukh Khan would attract domestic tourists and NRIs to Kerala.
According to available figures, the foreign tourist influx to Kerala is less than 10 lakhs per year, while close to one crore domestic tourists visit Kerala each year. Domestic tourists spend more than their foreign counterparts in Kerala.
Kerala is enhancing its efforts to increase tourism to the state especially as it is expected that the ban on liquor would reduce the number of tourists.
While Amitabh Bachchan is the tourism ambassador for Gujarat, Aamir Khan represents the central tourism department.
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