Thiruvananthapuram, Sep 16 (IANS): For the first time, all international buyers who will make a minimum of 40 appointments with the buyers at the eighth edition of the Kerala Travel Mart (KTM) will get $750 as an incentive, a KTM official said here Tuesday.

KTM 2014 will be held here Sep 18-20 at the Samudrika Convention Centre of the Cochin Port Trust located at the cruise terminal, Willingdon Island, overlooking the backwaters.

Addressing reporters, KTM president Abraham George said while those buyers who come from Europe will get euro 500 for a minimum 40 appointments with the sellers, those from the US and Canada will get $750.

"In all, around 282 international buyers from 60 countries have registered while there are 245 sellers. We have worked out that all those buyers who complete 40 appointments with the sellers in the three days will be given the incentive," said George.

KTM this time has two major themes - village life and Kerala as a wedding destination.

Close to 1,000 rooms in various hotels in and around Kochi have been given for free to the KTM to house the guests who are coming for the flagship event for promoting Kerala tourism.

"The biggest beneficiaries of this event have been the numerous home stays and the small resorts, for whom to have their own marketing is tough. It's through this event held here and the Kerala Tourism road shows organised across the world that such people get their business promoted," said P.K. Anish Kumar, KTM secretary.

"This time we have launched a new software through which the buyers and sellers can get to know one another and fix appointments besides getting mobile alerts," added Kumar.

Britain, Spain, Germany, France and Russia top the list of international buyers. Besides, there is a good number from relatively new markets like Australia, South Africa, Malaysia and a strong presence from Scandinavia, the Netherlands, Middle East, Eastern Europe and Latin America,