THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: More than 10,000 delegates, ten cine-halls, 196 films; the landmark event is ready to begin on a high note in the city. As per official statistics, 9,200 delegate registrations, apart from 2,000 media registrations, have been recorded till Wednesday. Of the 9,200 registrations, 2,400 are students and around 1,300 are women. Nearly 300 women journalists have signed up in the media category.Compared to season 15, the official statement says, this year has seen a marked increase in the number of delegate registrations. The huge inflow of cine-literate crowd is also expected to have positive impact on the tourism sector.According to U V Jose, director of the Kerala Institute of Tourism and Travel Studies (KITTS), “This season has seen a marked dip in the inflow of European tourists following the global recession. Events like the IFFK could make difference".According to him, compared to domestic tourists, foreigners spend more time visiting tourist destinations. The domestic tourists, he says, prefer to devote their time watching movies.The number of rooms reserved for festival guests in some hotels in the city shows that the festival period is a good omen for the tourist season also. Shaji M, manager of Jas Hotel at Thycaud, says, "Out of the 43 rooms in the hotel, 20 have been reserved for the IFFK delegates".K Vinod Kumar, marketing manager of Hotel Horizon in the city, says: ''Other than the IFFK guests, domestic delegates Chennai, Goa and Mumbai and foreign delegates from Denmark and Iran would seek accommodation in the hotel.”Says Bandhu Prasad of Guest Relations and Hospitality section of Kerala State Chalachitra Academy: "From December 8 to 17, the rooms are reserved in hotels. and the list of people to be accommodated will be given some ten days before the commencement of the festival.”Places like Vyloppilli Samskrithi Bhavan and International Hostel in the city are reserved for festival delegates for a week.
Comments
0 comment