Thiruvananthapuram: Mr VR Krishna Teja, Director of Tourism and also continuing as Managing Director of Kerala Tourism Development Corporation (KTDC) will hand over the charge of MD to Ms V Vigneshwari on Monday.
Krishna Teja’s two-year tenure as KTDC’s Managing Director was marked by a string of initiatives that saw the state-owned hospitality major making major strides, despite the pandemic-induced challenges.
Ms Vigneswari, presently the Director of Collegiate Education, is a Kerala Cadre IAS officer of the 2015 batch, a release said on Friday.
It was under Mr Krishna Teja, KTDC introduced the country’s first quarantine package as a timely boost to the travel sector.
During his tenure, KTDC achieved a profit of Rs 2.70 crore, despite the pandemic-caused setback to tourism the world over.
The outgoing MD also diversified the portfolio of KTDC with the launch of several projects such as Ripple Land in Alappuzha, Loom Land in Kannur, Folk Land in Mangattuparamba and Flotilla, the floating restaurant at Veli, besides the Aahaar brand of restaurants that went on to gain a brand value after being set up in the motels at Alappuzha, Kayamkulam, Vadakara and various other locations.
In June this year, KTDC launched the innovative In-Car Dining, for serving travellers food inside their vehicles, allaying the health risks of eating in public places when the pandemic was at its peak.
The Quarantine Package saw guests occupying more than 25,000 rooms of KTDC during the Covid time.
The Corporation signed marketing pacts for regular business with the premier online travel portal Makemytrip.com and IRCTC, the largest PSU in the tourism sector at a time when the pandemic was at its peak.
Today, KTDC is poised to switch over completely to software-based operations.
Under the leadership of Mr Teja, KTDC has completed the renovation works of Chaithram hotel in Thiruvananthapuram and has since rebranded it as The Grand Chaithram while Barracks, the rooftop restaurant at Mascot Hotel, also in Thiruvananthapuram, has been completed.
KTDC’s Munnar Tea County resort in the hilly Idukki district has also been completely renovated, while a 30-room hotel will soon be opened at Kanyakumari.
KTDC, during Mr Teja’s stint, was able to resolve the technical hiccups in its star beach hotel project at Kozhikode. Construction work on KTDC’s five-star beach project at Muzhappilangad near Kannur was also commenced during his tenure.
Thanking his colleagues for their cooperation, he recalled the positive attitude from the managers, unit officers, employees and the union leadership in taking KTDC to new heights despite the hard times.
