The Grand Kerala Shopping Festival 2009-10 has evoked good response from the business and trading community in Kochi, Moovattupuzha and Kothamangalam, helping the organisers of the Festival in Ernakulam to meet their targets comfortably for the season.
According to sources, Ernakulam district has been given the target of a total of 950 participants in the Grand Kerala Shopping Festival, now an annual affair linking the tourism season and shopping opportunities complete with surprise gifts and substantial prizes in gold.
Sources indicated that nearly 70 per cent of the target has been met as far as registration of participants is concerned. Only the district of Idukki is learnt to have so far reached the target, the number of registrations being 35, sources said.
The number of registrations in Ernakulam is higher this year than in the previous two editions of the Grand Kerala Shopping Festival.
The cut off date for registration is November 15.
This is to ensure that the materials meant for the conduct of the festival are not delayed. The shopping festival is between December 1 and January 15 next year.
The Shopping Festival this time offers a mega prize of one kg gold to six persons across the State. Another six will get half-a-kg of gold each in the second mega prize.
Besides, there will be prizes on a zonal basis at each weekend during the festival period.
This includes 10 sovereigns of gold each to six persons. The second prize will be five sovereigns each for another six persons.
There will also be scratch and win offers from the shops and business establishments that join the Grand Kerala Shopping Festival.
The festival is being organised in all the 14 districts of the State in tandem with the tourist inflow during the holiday season and the organisers claim that this is one of the largest shopping festivals in Asia.