Kerala - Kochi   

Packaging Kerala for the world to see

KOCHI: The peak of tourist season will see Grand Kerala Shopping Festival (GKSF), a one-of-its kind show in the State, being held in all district headquarters.

Planned as an annual event, it will be held from December 1 this year to January 15, 2008 this time, coinciding with the Christmas and New Year season. It will be a joint venture of the departments of Tourism, Industries and Commerce, Local Self Government, Taxes, and Cultural Affairs.

The aim is to hew out a space for Kerala in the international trade circuit. During the festival, shops and trade centres will offer discounts.

The festival will become a full-fledged one in five years. The government will be only a facilitator for the event. Apart from giving a boost to trade and commerce, the festival will create an avenue for ‘shopping with pleasure.’

Cultural events, road shows, exhibitions and entertainment programmes will be organised, said K.N. Satheesh, Additional Director (General) of Kerala Tourism and director of the festival.

The organisers will sponsor gift coupons and prizes of lucky dips. The festival will be organised giving preference to market centres and traditional industrial centres which are willing to accept the norms of sanitation, hospitality, amenities and business standards.

Similarly, a market festival of coir, cashew, marine products, spices, handlooms and handicrafts products will be held in related centres.

The Government will also encourage showcasing of items like consumer durables, traditional jewellery, textiles, resorts and spa, and genuine ayurvedic centres.

The Tourism Department is the nodal department for the conduct of the festival, handling funds and other administrative matters.

To participate in this festival, merchants must register. Merchants will get the GKSF branding done on their shops, with arches, danglers etc. so that consumers can easily identify them. Consumers will get coupons, which can be used to get prizes.

A meeting with traders, producers, retailers and state level office bearers of merchants bodies will be held in Kochi on Thursday, to make the event a success.

A host of ministers too are expected to participate.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Breaking the lure of the bottle
Protest against handing over of schools to local bodies
Nuke deal flayed
Fishermen plan rally
Power disruption
Velu’s statement flayed
Wetland facing threat
Dearth of psychiatrists in health services
District cooperative bank opens 50th branch
Packaging Kerala for the world to see
Drunk driving: 30 arrested
Bomb scare at hospital
Roads come under IMA scanner
Kochi today

Copyright © 2007, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu