development corporation type kerala government undertaking industry tourism ecotourism hotel management founded november 1 1966 headquarters thiruvananthapuram kerala india area served kerala india website 1 a house boat view from vambanad lake hotel aranya nivas thekkady kerala the kerala tourism development corporation ktdc is a public sector undertaking that conducts and regulates the tourism activities in the indian state of kerala . the ktdc is headquartered at thiruvananthapuram and has offices across all the districts of kerala . the agency also operates hotels resorts and tourist rest houses in key locations in the state . its official slogan is official host to god s own country . it is one of the most profitable ventures of the kerala government . citation needed contents 1 history 2 objectives 3 properties 3.1 heritage range hotels 3.2 specialty range hotels 3.3 value plus 3.4 tamarind easy 3.5 aaram 3.6 events hub 3.7 take a break 4 package tours 4.1 conducted and sight seeing tours 5 tourist reception 6 references 7 external links history edit kerala was a relatively unknown state among tourist circles until the early 1960s . the first initiative to popularize kerala as a tourist destination was undertaken by travancore s prince consort col. godavarma raja husband of h.h. the then queen of travancore started kerala tours limited to popularize key tourist locations in travancore kingdom . when travancore merged with india kerala tours limited became a private entity under the travancore royal family . for more than 20 years since independence kerala trend to ignore tourism as a key industry leaving ktl and other private players to lead the role . in the 1960s ktl struck gold by collaborating with thomas cook and started popularizing kovalam in western countries which started the advent of hippie culture in kovalam beach . the strong inflow of tourists into kovalam started kerala government to consider tourism as a key industry . though it tried to nationalize kerala tours limited it soon fell into legal issues . this resulted in the government to think starting a new entity known as kerala tourism development corporation ktdc in 1966 . 1 started as a government department ktdc became a separate commercial entity by the 1970s . several premium guest houses of kerala government were identified and converted into hotel brands . lt. col. g. v. raja was also the president of tourism promotion council of kerala . he was the main architect in developing kovalam as an international tourist spot . 2 3 objectives edit to promote kerala as a leading tourist destination to identify key tourist destinations within kerala and promote it outside to provide auxiliary support in developing key tourist destinations to provide highest quality hospitality services to tourists to act as one source destination for various informations regarding tourist destinations and other related informations . to ensure higher returns to government through financial and social viable projects and thereby provide employment properties edit ktdc owns more than 40 properties ranging from heritage five star resorts to budget accommodation managed under five brands in hotel category and 2 in non hotel hospitality category heritage range hotels edit ktdc owns 3 flagship properties known for its historical importance . bolgatty island resort which houses the bolgatty palace a heritage property which is the largest dutch palace outside the netherlands . 4 built in 1635 as palace of dutch governor of india this soon became british residency for travancore cochin kingdoms . the palace is part of bolgatty resort which has another property branded as island resort which has a nine course golf club horsing tracks and other facilities . mascot hotel trivandrum located in state capital thiruvananthapuram is a heritage property built in 1902 which used to accommodate travancore army officials and army center until 1949 . lake palace a former summer palace of the king of travancore is on an island in the middle of the periyar lake 20 minutes by boat from the mainland located inside the periyar tiger reserve . specialty range hotels edit ktdc has 7 resort styled hotel properties aiming for leisure travellers . all properties in the premium range are individually branded . marina house ktdc manages india s first marina which includes a 24 room hotel marina house located in bolgatty island west kochi . the facility features 34 berthing spaces of yachts and marina club house for travellers to unwind their journeys with facilities for embarkation and disembarkation process . bolgatty island resort part of bolgatty island the resort features a world class urban resort with a nine course golf course a horse track honeymoon cottages and private gardens . aranya nivas thekkady built within periyar national park is a five star jungle lodge . waterscapes kumarakom is a group of lake cottage suites built over vembanadu lake in the tourist destination kumarakom . samudra beach kovalam a five star property in kovalam beach tea country munnar a heritage colonial tea estate bungalow refurnished as a four star hotel suvasam lake resort alapuzha is a latest property located close to thaneermukkam bund overlooking the mighty vembandu lake . value plus edit ktdc has three star value plus range hotels across five districts of kerala . most of the hotels are designed to cater business and upper segment family market . each value plus hotel property is themed around its location . golden peak ponmudi honeymoon hotel chitaram thiruvananthapuram city business hotel nandhanam guruvayur pilgrim hotel periyar house thekkady jungle safari lodge garden house malampuzha picnic hotel peppergrove wayanad spice garden hotel raindrops chennai ; first hotel of ktdc outside kerala located in chennai capital of tamil nadu . business class hotel . tamarind easy edit ktdc tamarind hotel on the banks of lake ashtamudi in kollam city tamarind easy is a series of 15 budget hotels spread across kerala to cater to budget tourists . major cities including kollam alappuzha thrissur and kannur have tamarind hotels 5 aaram edit ktdc was one of the first hospitality chains in india to start series of motels across major state and national highways . the motels are branded as aaram which are designed as roadside multi cuisine restaurants . every aaram has a large restaurant rest rooms and many motels have dormitories as well as a medical center . a few designated aarams do have beer parlors which serves limited alcohol drinks as well as beer . events hub edit ktdc manages 2 properties under non hotel hospitality category . the bolgatty events center which is a 5 star convention center facility located in bolgatty island resort in kochi is the flagship project under this category . the events center features a 1000 seater convention hall a 15 acre open grounds for exhibitions and open air events . gv raja international convention center in kovalam trivandrum is another major facility take a break edit take a break tab is the latest venture from ktdc aiming to create roadside multi utility kiosks that have a refreshment center a sovenior shop cloakroom rest rooms information center with atm facility pharmacy etc assist road travellers for a break and quick refreshment . tab is a private public partnership program with individuals owning the facility while ktdc assisting in branding and promotion . package tours edit ktdc sells packaged tours of kerala across world through a network of travel agents and tour agencies who act as general sales agents of ktdc . more than 20 products are offered by ktdc . conducted and sight seeing tours edit ktdc conducts one day and two day sight seeing tours in major cities as well as in tourist centers . this includes bus tourist cars trips and boat ferries . tourist reception edit ktdc have several tourist reception centers in all major cities and tourist centers from where conducted tours start and end in addition to providing complementary information about tourist destinations maps and guides . references edit godavarma raja colonel important personalities . keralawindow.net . keralawindow.net . retrieved 12 april 2016 . g.v. raja birth centenary . the hindu . retrieved 12 april 2016 . g. v. raja convention centre . retrieved 12 april 2016 . ktdc hotels & resorts . ktdc hotels & resorts . ktdc . retrieved 10 january 2016 . external links edit wikimedia commons has media related to kerala tourism development corporation . the official website of kerala tourism official site of ktdc 2 v t e tourism in india by state andhra pradesh andaman and nicobar islands assam bihar patna delhi chhattisgarh goa jammu and kashmir ladakh haryana himachal pradesh karnataka bangalore mysore kerala thiruvanathapuram kochi thrissur madhya pradesh maharashtra mumbai marathwada aurangabad mizoram north east india odisha kosal puducherry punjab rajasthan jaipur telangana hyderabad tamil nadu chennai coimbatore uttar pradesh allahabad uttarakhand west bengal kolkata types beaches hill stations islands lakes medical tourism skiing tourist trains waterfalls wildlife national parks protected areas world heritage sites organisations india tdc andhra pradesh tdc bihar stdc delhi ttdc haryana tcl j & k tdc karnataka tdc kerala tdc madhya pradesh tdc maharashtra tdc odisha tdc rajasthan tdc tamil nadu tdc telangana tdc uttar pradesh tourism west bengal tdcl see also incredible india visa policy of india category commons v t e tourism in kerala organizations kerala tourism development corporation department of tourism kerala gandhi seva sadan informative articles chinese fishing nets god s own country chundan vallam kerala backwaters pooram puli kali temple festivals of kerala tourist resorts kerala vallam kali wildlife of kerala airports aranmula international airport calicut international airport cochin duty free cochin international airport kannur international airport kollam airport defunct trivandrum international airport amusement parks fantasy park kottakkunnu vismaya wonderla archaeological sites anchuthengu ariyannur umbrellas cheraman parambu kadavallur kandanissery kudakkallu parambu pattanam tangasseri thovarimala ezhuthupara beaches alappuzha beach azheekal beach chavakkad beach cherai beach fort kochi beach kappad kappil thiruvananthapuram kappkadavu kollam beach kovalam mappila bay marari beach meenkunnu beach munakkal beach muzhappilangad beach muziris beach payyambalam beach poovar shankumugham beach snehatheeram beach paravur thekkumbhagam thirumullavaram beach thottada beach varkala beach boat races aranmula boat race champakulam moolam boat race indira gandhi boat race kallada boat race kandassankadavu boat race nehru trophy boat race payippadu vallam kali president s trophy boat race sree narayana jayanthi boat race triprayar boat race caves chovvanur burial cave edakkal caves kottukal cave temple nedumala caves piralimattam vizhinjam rock caves dams banasura sagar dam bhoothathankettu cheruthoni dam chimmony dam idamalayar dam idukki dam kakki reservoir karapuzha dam malampuzha dam mangalam dam dam mattupetty dam mullaperiyar dam neyyar dam parambikulam dam pazhassi dam peechi dam peringalkuthu dam peruvaripallam dam ponmudi dam poomala dam pothundi dam sholayar dam siruvani dam thanneermukkom bund thenmala dam thunakkadavu dam vazhani dam walayar dam festivals aanayoottu aaraattu aluva sivarathri festival arattupuzha pooram dhanu edakkunni uthram vilakku feast of saint raphael ollur gandharvanpattu ilanjithara melam india international boat show international film festival of kerala kadavallur anyonyam kanyarkali karivela kerala adventure carnival keralotsavam kollam pooram kottakkal pooram kottankulangara festival machad mamangam nalukulangara pooram kalpathi ratholsavam nenmara vallanghy vela onam onathallu or avittathallu peruvanam pooram tattamangalam kuthira vela thrissur pooram uthralikavu pooram forts anchuthengu fort bekal fort chandragiri fort kerala cranganore fort east fort fort emmanuel hosdurg fort nedumkotta overbury s folly palakkad fort pallipuram fort st thomas fort tangasseri st. angelo fort tellicherry fort william fort islands dharmadam island ezhumanthuruthu gundu island islands of kollam kavvayi kuruvadweep munroe island parumala pizhala pulinkunnoo ramanthuruthu valiyaparamba vallarpadam vypin willingdon island lakes ashtamudi lake enamakkal lake mananchira oranju poika padinjarechira paravur lake pookode lake sasthamcotta lake veeranpuzha vellayani lake vadakkechira vanchikulam vembanad mountains aathanad agastya mala ambanad hills ambukuthi mala anamudi anginda peak banasura hill chembra peak elivai malai ilaveezha poonchira illickal kallu kunnathoor padi marayur meenuliyan para nelliampathi paithalmala ponmudi poomala urakam hill vagamon vagavurrai vellarimala museums 8 point gallery cafe kollam arakkal museum archaeological museum thrissur indian business museum indo portuguese museum kerala science and technology museum kerala soil museum munnar tea museum napier museum pazhassi raja archaeological museum sardar vallabhbhai patel police museum