KOCHI: The Kochi stopover of the Volvo Ocean Race will offer a big opportunity for the business community, especially the tourism sector, said N Ramachandran, chairman of the Cochin Port.
He was making a presentation at the discussion session on `Volvo Ocean Race- Business Opportunities’ organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry(CII) on Friday.
“CEOs and other top business leaders of sponsor brands visit the stopover ports to witness the race and cheer up their team. Ericsson, one of the major sponsors of the race, alone will bring a 500- member team of corporate guests.
The corporate world will be looking to Kochi during the days of stopover. In addition to the global exposure, the race provides a platform for the business community to interact with the leaders of major brands and networking,” the chairman said.
Since the race is being held with international standards, we have to arrange all infrastructure here, he said.
“It is expected that around 5,000 hotel rooms will be needed during the days of the race. At present we don’t have this capacity. It is expected that this shortage can be filled by using houseboats and by setting up more homestays. Restaurants and eateries are another sector.
Since the people roaming with the race are capable of high spending, restaurants with good amenities have to be set up. In addition to this, there will be various programmes such as food festivals, exhibitions, cultural and entertainment programmes,” Ramachandran said.
He said that the facilities at the Willingdon Island would be upgraded. During the discussion, there were suggestions that `Keep Kochi and Backwaters Clean’ would be the theme of the event.
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