Google: Kerala overtakes Taj Mahal as most searched travel destination

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala has
edged out the Taj Mahal to become
the number one in Google's search
trends for travel destinations in the
country for 2012.
Munnar, a popular tourist
destination in the state, is also on the
list of Top 10 Indian destinations on
Google's Zeitgeist site, showing
search trends from around the
world.
Kerala at number one and the Taj
Mahal at number two were followed
by the Wagah Border (Punjab),
Vaishno Devi and Amarnath (both in
Jammu and Kashmir).
Kashmir came number six on the list
of top ten travel destinations under
the Google search trends for 2012.
According to search trends in the
travel category released by Google
for this year, Munnar was number
nine, followed by the Gateway of
India (Mumbai).
Kerala tourism minister AP Anil
Kumar described the two listings for
Kerala, including the number one
spot, as a great encouragement for
the state.
"Kerala Tourism is a leader in online
promotional activities for the state.
We are one of the first government
establishments to make use of the
internet to reach out to the world,"
he said.
Google's Zietgeist, which covers all
search categories, answers the
question of what the world searched
for in a particular year.