The Kerala government has decided to form a State Tourism Advisory Committee.

The tourism department has decided to form 20-odd focus groups under various categories such as responsible tourism, adventure tourism, eco-tourism, ayurveda, medical tourism etc. The focus group members experts in their respective areas will hold periodical meetings to find new marketing and tourism development strategies, which will be presented to the advisory committee.

"There is a need to innovate and rebrand Kerala as a tourist destination. The primary objective of the focus group is to bring innovative ideas. The advisory committee would work on fulfilling these ideas, which is why the tourism department felt the need to form small focus groups," said Suman Billa, tourism secretary. The first group, comprising nine people, is likely to hold its first meeting mid-November.