India’s first travel literary festival Yaanam 2025 wraps up in Kerala

Varkala (Kerala), Oct 19 (PTI) Yaanam 2025, the country’s first travel literary festival, concluded on Sunday at this picturesque coastal destination here with a soulful slide guitar performance by Grammy- awardee Dr Prakash Sontakke.

Organised by Kerala Tourism at Ranga Kala Kendram here, the October 17-19 festival featured engaging conversations with leading travel writers, vloggers and social media influencers from around the world.

Delivering the valedictory address to the event, Tourism Additional Director (General) Sreedhanya Suresh said the first edition of the event itself had turned out to be a resounding success with the participants taking home enduring memories.

‘Celebrating Words and Wanderlust’ is the theme of the three-day festival In a key session on the concluding day of the event, Dr Venu V, former chief secretary, government of Kerala, noted that tourism and knowledge-based service sectors have emerged as key drivers to take Kerala’s economy new heights.

“The state has firmly established itself as a happening place where investments will yield handsome returns, “Venu said.

Earlier in the day, Tibetan activist and award-winning writer Tenzin Tsundue said tourists should travel consciously and be sensitive to local communities and culture.

People are being made to consume travelling as a means to pleasure, rather than with a purpose, he said on the sidelines of the Lit Fest. PTI LGK ROH