Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 17 (IANS): Kerala's first-ever Tourism Investors Meet (TIM) has come as a major boost to the state with the government receiving investment offers worth Rs 15,116.65 crore in the core sector.

Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 17 (IANS) Kerala's first-ever Tourism Investors Meet (TIM) has come as a major boost with the state receiving investment offers worth Rs 15,116.65 crore in the core sector.

This included a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that Kerala Tourism signed with Tamara Leisure Experiences on a Rs 250-crore houseboat hotel projects which the Bengaluru-based hospitality group will execute in Alappuzha and Kannur districts.

The day-long deliberations in the state capital which ended, Thursday night also led the Tourism Department to set up a dedicated facilitation centre.

The new Centre will be headed by the Tourism Secretary and will carry out time-bound actions as a follow-up to the outcomes of the deliberations and business meets at the TIM.

Further, there will be a coordination committee, led by the Tourism Director, with the association of the secretaries of various departments.

The committee will have the power to intervene if any projects face issues said State Tourism Minister P.A. Mohamed Riyas.

Besides, the committee will hold regular ministerial meetings to keep track of the progress of the tourism investment endeavours, said Riyas, the son-in-law of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

TIM 2023 saw the participation of nearly 500 investors and entrepreneurs which included 46 startups and 118 investors from the Responsible Tourism sector. A total of 75 projects were presented, of which 52 were from the private sector.

Besides, 23 projects proposed by the Tourism Department, 16 projects were mooted as public-private partnerships which saw investment offers worth Rs 2,511.10 crore.

While the 52 proposals in the private sector, 21 projects worth Rs 12,605.55 crore won investment offers.