THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:  Setting a new benchmark on social media platforms, the number of followers on the official Facebook page of Kerala Tourism has now spiralled to over two million, making it number one among the portals of any such tourism departments in the country. The Facebook page, packed with fascinating information, presents to the followers some of the most engaging visual treats of Kerala’s landscape.

Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran said, “In this techno-savvy age where people are keenly following social media to keep themselves abreast of developments, this achievement has brought recognition for Kerala Tourism not just from other parts of India, but also from countries like the UAE, Saudi Arabia, the US, Australia and the UK.”

It was in August 2014 that @keralatourismofficial crossed the one million mark. The Kerala Tourism Facebook page also played a vital role in communicating to the world that Kerala was tourism-ready after the August 2018 floods through live videos across destinations. Timely and witty responses as in the case of the Aviyal episode make our Facebook page stand apart, Tourism Secretary Rani George said.

Kerala Tourism Director P Bala Kiran said, “Kerala Tourism page occupies the top slot in comparison with other tourism pages in the country, ahead of Gujarat Tourism and the Incredible India pages. The FB pages above Kerala like Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia are countries whereas we are a small state.” While Kerala Tourism has 2.4 million plus likes, Gujarat Tourism has 1.3 million plus likes, followed by Incredible India which has 1.2 million plus likes.

When compared with other international tourism pages, the page ranks fourth, slightly trailing behind ‘Amazing Thailand’ page. Last year, Kerala Tourism had overtaken Jammu & Kashmir and Gujarat Tourism’s Facebook pages.The Facebook page is available at https://www.facebook.com/keralatourismofficial/