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diamond tourism kerala buy diamonds and stay for free !P.P Sunny, CEO of Sunny Diamonds, is offering a one-week free-stay in a five star hotel in the state to the prospective customers. Tourism department’s bid to bring diamond buyers to Kerala stateDIAMOND is not produced in the state, but it
has not barred the tourism industry from exploiting its potential to lure
tourists. The state tourism department has joined hands with a leading
diamond merchant to bring diamond buyers to the state.
By
T.K. Devasia (KERALA NEWSLETTER found at khaleejtimes.com
) 15 October 2007 P.P
Sunny, CEO of Sunny Diamonds, is offering a one-week free-stay in a five star
hotel in the state to the prospective customers. Tourists find the offer
alluring as they can get diamonds costing 15,600 Euros in international market
at 7,500 Euros in the state. Sunny
says the diamonds on sale under the package will meet all international quality
standards. The company is able to sell the gem at lower price due to lower
margins and highly competitive labour costs in India in comparison to Europe. Sunny
Diamonds source diamonds from diamond reserves in Antwerp and convert them into
jewellery using its own craftsman. It has teamed up with a network of tour
operators across Europe to market the package. The company is targeting an
annual sale of 10,000 packages initially. It
has also launched an online interactive website, www.diamondtourism.net
, in order to present the customers with the holiday packages while they shop
for their dream diamonds at an exclusive diamond showroom in Cochin. Hailing
the initiative, State Tourism Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan urged the industry
to include the packages in the international travels marts. He hoped that the
unique venture will help the government’s effort to turn the state a shopping
destination for tourists. The
Left Democratic Front government has already announced a 46-day Grand Kerala
Shopping Festival (GKSF), on the lines of Dubai Shopping Festival, from December
1, at 14 district headquarters across the state, to attract foreign tourists and
buyers. GKSF
would promote local traditional products, such as marine products, decorative
items, handicrafts, consumer durables, jewellery, textiles, resorts and the
ayurveda centres, according to the tourism minister. The
festival would promote business and tie-ups. The entrepreneurs would get the
GKSF branding, with special GKSF arches and danglers on their stores. Customers
would get lucky coupons which have attractive prizes to be won. A
unique feature of the festival is the facilities it provides to the tourists to
purchase products during the Shopping Festival even from the production centers.
This will also offer an opportunity to the tourists to see how traditional
products are manufactured. sunny
diamonds official site
Gold investors take the diamond route now R. Ramabhadran Pillai found 19/5/2006 at hindu.com
KOCHI: As gold prices continue to move up, one of the beneficiaries of the phenomenon is the trading group in precious stones. For the small group of diamond merchants, it is a golden opportunity. There has been a sustained demand for diamond and it is still on a strong path. The real issue is not whether diamonds are forever, but whether there will be enough diamonds of the genuine variety to cater to the increasing demand. Gold prices have been moving up as never before. International factors such as oil prices and the value of dollar have had a resultant effect on the price of the yellow metal. As the prices peaked, speculations were rife that there would be a movement in the reverse order, but nothing of that sort has happened. In the absence of the slowdown, customers who were initially hesitant to buy gold at the higher range have eventually made up their mind to participate in the business. This steady demand has reflected in the sales of diamond as well, says P.P. Sunny, chief executive officer of Sunny Diamonds, an exclusive showroom for diamonds in Kochi. Jewellery marts have been placing orders with him for large-scale purchase of diamonds. The availability of diamonds in the world market is limited and this aspect makes it a precious thing. He underlines the aspect by saying that "all the world's stock of top quality diamonds can be accommodated in a truck." Only 5 per cent of mined diamonds are listed in the best category. Millennium diamonds, issued to mark the year 2000, were limited to 20,000 pieces in the world, he said. "The price of diamonds has never gone down. Every year, it is going up by 6 to 10 per cent,'' he said. He is confident that the trend will continue. That is the reason why he gives a `money back' offer, a guarantee to take back the diamonds sold from his showroom at the price at which it is sold if the market price falls below. In fact, the buyers are banking on this trend and have started exchanging gold for diamond. Gold market deals have proved time and again that the yellow metal prices can fluctuate widely. Large-scale investments carry the risk of dwindling values if the gold prices crash. Such a negative scenario could be averted if gold is exchanged for diamond, according to him. It is a challenge to maintain the value of the gold possessed by the customer at the highest possible level, observes Paresh Das, marketing manager of DTC, an international organisation engaged in diamond business. People who had invested in gold when the prices were high would not like to see the prices crumbling. Thus, a lot of `conversion' is taking place, Mr. Das said. Branded diamond dealers have been spreading awareness and this has reflected in the market. These days customers are not preferring heavy jewellery. Instead, diamonds are increasingly being included in the jewellery for any occasion. This trend is all set to prolong and it may prove that diamonds are secure long-term investments. Of course, it could simply mean that diamonds are forever. |
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