Coimbatore hosts hundreds of business visitors every year. Some of these guests are regular visitors to the local companies and some come here as part of a delegation. When they go back, the hosts present them with souvenirs or the visitors shop around the city, to take back gifts for their friends and family members.
The gifts include handicrafts, silver articles, saris, shawls, stoles, etc.
During the recent days, event organisers here presented gifts that were made by local industries and craftsmen and this gave the visitors more information about Coimbatore-made products. For instance, at the Tamil Nadu International Balloon festival at Pollachi, printed coir mats were presented to the overseas hot air balloon pilots and guests; at BuildMat, shawls and fabric pieces with Toda embroidery were given to the participants and guests.
“When we presented printed coir mats to the American pilots, they came to know about the coir industry here. This is a natural product and such products are going to be the future,” says Deepak Mahesh of Coir Plus.
According to C.J. Raghunathan, chairman of BuildMat (an exhibition of construction materials and equipment that were held here recently), Toda embroidery textile pieces were placed as a special order. The aim was to gift products that are not available readily in the market. Details of the event were printed on the frame.
“This is a unique product and the guests will preserve it,” he says.
Nilgiris tea, especially tea bags, is also a popular gift item of the region given to foreign visitors.
These are available in special packs too. Coffee table book on Coimbatore, banana chips and handmade murukku are some of the other products. These are packed in such a way that the visitors are able to take it back home without any problem. Guests from other Asian countries prefer the local food items, says an executive of a leading company here.
