Sahay, Union Minister of Tourism after having conducted the Regional Meet of Northern, and Western region, opened the Regional Meet for Southern States in Kollam (Near Trivandrum) on August 19, 2011. The Ministry of Tourism will conduct the Eastern States Regional Meet in September 2011 in Shillong. These high profile meets motivate states to unleash the true potential of tourism.

Tourism Ministers from the southern states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka and the union territories of Puducherry, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep are meeting in Kollam Saturday-Sunday to chalk out joint strategies.

The second Southern Regional Conference of Tourism Ministers 'will chalk out strategies to attract foreign tourists to south India in a big way through joint initiatives. Kerala Tourism will also explore possibilities of launching joint programmes with other states besides draw up a plan to link the employment guarantee scheme with the responsible tourism projects,' Kerala Tourism Minister A.P. Anilkumar said Thursday.

The event would also be addressed by Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy. 'The conference will discuss the possibilities of launching inter-state tourism circuits with the help of private players. The states will explore cooperation in human resources development in the hospitality sector through skill development, skill certification and broad-basing of education,' said Kerala Tourism director Rani George.