Grand Kerala Shopping Festival - "Taxes Down the Drain"

Grand Kerala Shopping Festival [GKSF] is an initiative by Government of Kerala to enhance trade and commerce in Kerala. The festival, probably inspired from Dubai Shopping Festival [DSF], is huge considering the scale and reach across Kerala. The ongoing 3rd edition is poised to turn Kerala in to a big shopping mall, as claimed on the website.
GKSF promises a lot - increased sales for traders, more opportunities for brand visibility, big prizes for consumers, reaching tourists at the peak season. But how this can be "Asia's biggest shopping festival". I do not get the evaluating parameter. I know one thing, people from world over catch a flight to be at Dubai, Singapore, Malaysia, etc (all in Asia) during their shopping season, not for GKSF.
Kerala is one of the largest consumer market in India, just because of our purchasing power. It does not have anything to do with tourists spending here, as they mostly spend only for their stay in Kerala. I do not see GKSF inducing tourists to indulge. The festival is mainly focused on us parting more of our money. GKSF is not a compelling proposition for someone to travel to Kerala to be part of the festival and to indulge. Yes, GKSF would like to achieve this. But is it worth chasing? I do not believe so.
Kerala have three major shopping seasons - Onam, Vishu (New Year) and Christmas. Of these, Onam is the biggest. Onam is a unique festive season by the design of nature. It is nature's wish and we can see nature becoming part of the celebration. We welcome this season and indulge like there is no tomorrow. Onam, provides an unmatched experience and can pull people from all over world to Kerala.
A shopping festival is more of this unmatched experience for the consumer facilitating indulgence. Here the consumer is not buying what he need, but what he want. This happens in Kerala during our shopping seasons and not during GKSF. GKSF only induces the consumer to cross a level of spending to stand a chance to win the prize. This is beneficial for a trader, who invariably does these promotions. So, do they need GKSF? I say GKSF is not conceived well and is a case of "Taxes Down the Drain" [TDD]. The only beneficiary of this exercise is sponsors. They get amazing brand visibility across Kerala.

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