KERALA TOURISM NEWSLETTER
Ground works in full swing for the third edition of GKSF
With two consecutive editions becoming successful, Grand Kerala Shopping Festival (GKSF) has established itself as a key annual exercise to highlight Kerala as a destination for shoppers. It is also emerging as a classic working model for public-private ventures in India. With the Industries Department and Kerala Tourism at the helm and by coordinating with other government departments, so far the conduct of GKSF had been successful. And the credit also goes to the merchant community of Kerala for their wholehearted support for the event. The third edition of GKSF will start on December 1, 2009.
Riding on the success wave, the government is gearing up for the third edition of GKSF through a string of efforts, aimed at achieving an unprecedented commercial gain, compared to the previous editions.
This time around, the GKSF festival directorate is expecting an increased participation by the trade in the third edition of GKSF, which they believe would attract more people. Assistance would be provided by the directorate to small and large scale merchants to publicize their business specialities and also the prizes to be won during the upcoming edition of GKSF. The directorate would also hold awareness sessions for merchants with focus on how to gain maximum benefit by participating in GKSF.
According to the Minister for Tourism, Mr. Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, GKSF through its two editions held so far has proved that it is a viable platform for the growth and promotion of Kerala’s traditional manufacturing sectors and also to provide a market for various local products, especially those originating from the tribal belts of the state. As part of GKSF, a permanent trade centre would bet set up soon in the Sooryakanthi auditorium premises inside the Kanakakunnu Palace grounds, he added.
And on the publicity front, the festival directorate would organize road shows in other states of India. Noted film personalities, other artistes and cultural personalities of respective states would take part in the promotional programs of GKSF.