Kochi, Aug 9: As many as 57 countries will participate in the ninth edition of the Kerala Travel Mart (KTM) in Kochi from September 27, including 10 first-time participants.

The four-day event will begin on World Tourism Day, a KTM release said on Tuesday.

On display will be tourism products, services and packages from around 261 stakeholders, including hotels, resorts, houseboats, Ayurveda resorts, home stays and tour operators.

The event is basically meant for networking and interactions among travel industry professionals and entrepreneurs from Kerala and across the world.

Those who are coming for the first time include representatives from China, Japan, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Georgia, Chile, Greece, Iran, and Botswana.

So far, 560 foreign delegates have registered while domestic participation has crossed 1,300.

“The KTM has always placed as much emphasis on the identification of quality buyers from new countries as on retaining participation levels from conventional markets,” said KTM Society President Abraham George.

KTM is expected to witness 25,000 business meetings apart from other non-scheduled meetings.