Forty acres on Bolghatty Island will be converted into a global shopping centre between December 22 and January 5 as the organisers of the 2012-13 edition of Grand Kerala Shopping Festival (GKSF) have decided to give the sixth edition of the yearly fixture on the tourism calendar a new thrust and status.
The global avatar of the shopping festival will be complete with participation from at least four countries with which negotiations have been opened, said the director of the Festival U. V. Jose here on Friday. He was speaking to The Hindu on the sidelines of Kerala Travel Mart 2012.
The list of countries likely to participate in the shopping festival includes Malaysia, Dubai, Nepal and Singapore though nothing has been finalised yet, said Mr. Jose.
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At the Travel Mart, the festival is drawing a lot of attention with its counter depicting traditional art forms of Kerala, including Kalamezhuthu and pottery-making. This part of a drive to include traditional sectors and products and produces from Kerala within the purview of GKSF, said Mr. Jose.
The last five Shopping Festivals have focussed on some sectors like textiles, home appliances and jewellery. These editions of the festival were also predominantly urban in nature. However, the coming edition will be focussed on more products and produces from traditional sectors.
1,000 Akshaya centres have been roped into complete the registration of traders and merchants in the rural areas of Kerala in order to take the festival to the remote corners of the State.
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Small-time traders will be allowed to register free this time and online registrations and early registrations will be given incentives like five per cent discount, said Mr. Jose. These efforts are expected to give more scope for extending the reach of Grand Kerala Shopping Festival.