By Tourism India
There are entrepreneurs who build one thing well, and there are entrepreneurs like Baby Mathew, whose name shows up wherever Kerala tries to punch above its weight – in hospitality, in cinema, in environmental advocacy, and, for six defining years, at the helm of the institution that turned the state into a single, globally recognised tourism brand. As Founder & CMD of Somatheeram Ayurveda Group, Past President of the Kerala Travel Mart Society (2016–2022), an Advisory Member of the National Medical & Wellness Tourism Promotion Board under the Government of India, and a National Award-winning film producer, Mathew’s career reads less like a résumé and more like a map of the causes he’s chosen to champion simultaneously – hospitality, culture, environment, and, throughout, the conviction that Kerala’s heritage is worth building an entire industry around.
The Idea That Started It All
Mathew’s defining act of entrepreneurship predates KTM itself. In 1985, when he established Somatheeram Ayurveda Village at Chowara, he wasn’t simply opening a resort -he was starting the world’s first Ayurvedic hospital built in a resort setting, at a time when traditional healing was met with open skepticism by mainstream international travel markets. “I realized that classical Ayurvedic healing required an environment of absolute quiet, ocean breezes, and pristine natural serenity,” he recalls of his decision to move south from the already-thriving Kovalam coast in search of that setting. That single decision didn’t just build a company-it opened up the southern coastal corridor entirely, paving the way for neighbouring Poovar to emerge as a destination in its own right, and it planted the seed of a philosophy Mathew has never departed from since: that a business only earns the right to grow if it lifts the community and land around it.
Bringing That Philosophy to an Entire State
When Mathew took the helm of the Kerala Travel Mart Society in 2016, he carried that same instinct into an institution meant to represent the entire state’s tourism trade. “KTM brought this exact egalitarian philosophy to the entire state,” he says. “A small two-room rural homestay operator or a traditional village weaver stood in the same exhibition hall as major five-star luxury chains.” Under his leadership, KTM evolved from what he describes as “a modest B2B meeting into a premier global travel event” – one that, crucially, gave Kerala’s Ayurveda and wellness sector an institutional platform it had never had before. “KTM provided the institutional platform to position authentic Ayurveda, Yoga, and green living as premium choices,” he says. “Today, KTM is not merely a trade fair; it is the ultimate global showcase of Kerala’s eco-cultural identity.”
That elevation of wellness as a premium, globally competitive category is arguably Mathew’s most consequential legacy – one he pursued long before it became conventional wisdom. In the early 1990s, well ahead of India’s digital tourism curve, he produced the world’s first interactive Ayurveda multimedia CD-ROM, inaugurated at the Trivandrum Press Club by then-Governor R.L. Bhatia, and went on to launch Somatheeram.com, one of Kerala hospitality’s earliest commercial websites, along with Ayurvedaa2z.com – released by HH Prince Uthradom Thirunal Marthanda Varma – establishing what amounted to a global digital encyclopedia for classical Ayurveda.
Leading Through Crisis
Mathew’s tenure at KTM coincided with one of the most turbulent periods in the industry’s history, and his response set the tone for how Kerala’s tourism trade weathered it. When the COVID-19 pandemic brought global travel to a standstill, he steered KTM into pioneering Virtual KTM-a digital trade platform that let hundreds of local sellers keep meeting international buyers when physical travel was impossible. As restrictions eased, he led an aggressive recovery campaign built around positioning Kerala as “a safe, serene, and health-centric haven,” embedding Responsible Tourism protocols -zero-plastic policies, paperless networking, and verified NABH accreditation for Ayurveda hospitals – directly into KTM’s operations.
A Producer’s Instinct for Storytelling
Alongside his hospitality and institutional work, Mathew’s recognition as a National Award-winning film producer speaks to a storyteller’s instinct that runs through everything he’s built – from an Ayurveda resort designed as an experience rather than a stay, to a trade mart he consistently describes in narrative terms: as a “window to the world,” a “showcase,” a platform where “the soul of Kerala’s tourism industry could speak directly to international markets.” It is the same instinct that has drawn him toward causes beyond hospitality and cinema over the years, reflecting a wider entrepreneurial and philanthropic range that Tourism India will explore in future features.
A Legacy Built on One Principle
Asked what he’d tell KTM’s incoming leadership, Mathew’s answer distills everything above into three lines: stay rooted in authenticity, uplift your local community and environment, and maintain solidarity between private trade and government. “If you remain true to your land, protect your environment, and elevate your people,” he says, “Kerala Tourism will stand as a beacon of sustainable, restorative living for the entire world.” It is, in many ways, the same principle he applied to a single Ayurveda resort in Chowara forty years ago – now scaled, through KTM, to an entire state.
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