Prizes worth Rs 10 crore will be up for grabs at the first Grand Kerala Shopping Festival promoted by the State Government which begins on Saturday. The festival is a combined effort by various State departments to reap long-term commercial benefits from the tourism boom.
Prizes including Mercedes and BMW cars, residential flats, paid holidays, diamond sets, gold, LCD and plasma TVs will be given away during the 45-day jamboree. The festival has been timed to coincide with the tourism and pilgrimage season as well as the Christmas and New Year festivities. The International Film Festival of Kerala (IFFK) to be held in December will further add sparkle to the carnival.
Decoration
“Some 100,000 shops in the 38,000 sq km of land will be lit up and decorated 24 x 7. They will give out scratch-and-win coupons besides a number of attractive offers during the period,” said Mr T Balakrishnan, Principal Secretary, Industries. Security has been tightened in Malabar where night-time shopping is being promoted. Heavy discounts and prizes are offered for purchases at the participating outlets except for liquor and medicine.
“It will be a golden opportunity for traders and retail outlets in the State to promote the ‘Made in Kerala’ brand and to tap the growing middle class in the State,” he said. The participants include retail stores, manufacturers, traders, service providers, lifestyle stores, restaurants, hotels, resorts, Ayurveda massage centers, spas and various tourism centres, converting the entire State into a shopping mall.
Traditional products
“The festival would promote traditional products such as marine products, decorative items, handicrafts, consumer durables, jewellery, textiles, resorts and the ayurveda centres,” Tourism Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said.
The annual event during the peak tourism season will be held at all the 14 district headquarters, targeting both local and visiting shoppers.
The Achuthanandan Government is banking on the hospitality industry for the success of the carnival. Despite bad roads and poor infrastructure, the inflow of domestic tourists increased by 40 per cent last year while the number of holidaymakers arriving from abroad went up 25 per cent from the previous year.
