The 45-day Grand Kerala Shopping Festival (GKSF) is counting on high value low volume trade in gold jewellery and textile sales to drive its overall turnover. The GKSF will be underway from December 1 to January 15 on all festival-registered shops in the State.
The incentive of prizes to the tune of Rs 30 crore against the lucky coupon, issued per sales invoice above Rs 1000, is the cardinal selling point for the fete, T Balakrishnan, Principal Secretary (Industry and Commerce), Kerala, said, here. Prizes like flats, foreign tours and imported cars are offered.
“Nowhere in India has a shopping festival been run, offering prizes to a whopping 5 lakh customers,” he claimed.
Sponsors and traders have pitched in handsomely to the festival budget, pushing it up from the State’s share of Rs 15 crore to an overall Rs 30 crore. “It is a five year annual programme, by which it will be scaled up to redefine Kerala’s tourism ambience to make it a shopping destination too,” V Venu, Principal Secretary ( Tourism), Kerala said.
In the initial year, considering the starting glitches, the State Government is eyeing mainly the domestic tourists. Three kinds of potential buyers are targetted. One, the very high-income group in Kerala who usually head for shopping destinations like Singapore and Dubai during the December-January season. Two, the foreign tourist in Kerala during the peak season, Three, the high-spending average consumer in the consumer State. “By next year, the scope and scale will be widened,” the officials said.