Cochin was the base for the 2009 AITO conference, and what better location for a gathering of specialist tour operators and travel agents than this historic area of Kerala, a fascinating vibrant city that offers a really different view of India; slower and more peaceful than the frenetic life of the larger modern cities, perhaps less spectacular than Rajasthan with its grand palaces and historic sites, but so much more relaxed, with the backwaters around Alleppey and Vembanad, the rolling hills of Thekkady, the wilderness of Periyar, and the atmospheric and bustling back streets of Fort Cochin, with its street markets, Chinese Fishing nets, Jewish Synagogue, Santa Cruz Basilica and St Francis Church, the earliest European church in India.