Kerala - Alappuzha   

Over 2,000 traders for shopping fete

ALAPPUZHA: Promising to usher in a new shopping culture in the State, the Grand Kerala Shopping Festival will get off to a colourful start on December 1.

Addressing a press conference here on Wednesday to explain the district version of the festival, District Collector V.K. Balakrishnan said the aim of the government was to take the festival to the standards of the Dubai Shopping Festival.

“We also aim to club this festival with the tourist season, so that tourists will be coming here not just for sightseeing, but for a new shopping experience as well that will be available across the State,” he said.

The shopping festival, which will continue till January 15, will not only be in the headquarters of 12 districts, but also at taluk levels to enable traders from rural areas also to market their products.

It is not just traders who stand to benefit from the festival, the Collector said, pointing out that customers who make purchases worth Rs.1,000, either in a single go or in phases, would be eligible for various gift schemes, including ‘scratch & win’ coupons from the shops. With the 12 participating districts divided into zones of three each, there would be weekly lucky draws that would have more than 70 cars, LCD television sets and ornaments, among others, as prizes. There would be special lucky draws for the traders as well, Mr. Balakrishnan said.

“The State-level mega bumper draw on January 15 will have two luxury cars, villas and foreign trips among the gifts,” he said.

In Alappuzha, where the administration aimed to involve more than 2,000 trade establishments in the festival, characteristic products including coir products, spices, Mannar’s bronze vessels and artefacts and tourism packages, to name a few, would be on display.

The district-level inauguration of the festival would be held at the Lamp Post outlet at Vellakinar on December 1 at 10 a.m., the Collector said, adding that Lamp Post was the first establishment to register for the event.

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