World Tourism Cities Federation

Kochi:(IANS) Kochi will soon become a member of the Beijing-based World Tourism Cities Federation (WTCF) Council as the Kerala government has accepted an invitation from the organisation, a state minister said.

The acceptance will be handed over to China’s ambassador to India Le Yucheng in the presence of Chief Minister Oommen Chandy here on Monday.

The WTCF, a non-profit, non-governmental international organisation voluntarily formed by tourism cities and organisations from various countries and regions, aims at creating a global platform for cooperation and development of tourism.

Beijing mayor Wang Anshun, who is also the chairman of the WTCF Council, extended the invitation to Kerala chief secretary Jiji Thomson, during a meeting held on the sidelines of the recent BITE expo in Beijing.

“We expect that joining the league will be a great step towards strengthening the association between Beijing and Kerala. The Kerala government is honoured by this invitation and has decided to accept it,” said Kerala Tourism Minister A.P. Anil Kumar.

Thomson said the WTCF “acts in accordance with the core idea of ‘Better city life through tourism’. The membership will enable us to share experiences in the development of the tourism industry and explore new tourism markets”.