Chief Minister, Oommen Chandy has called for promoting ‘coir tourism,’ which will in turn be beneficial to the sector as a whole.

Inaugurating the Coir Kerala 2012, the international coir festival here on Saturday, Mr.Chandy said that the tourists should be attracted to the State using the facilities of the coir industry and also arrangements should be made for them to watch the process of producing coir.

A colourful procession was taken out in the town in connection with the Coir fest. The international fair which begins on Saturday will be open to public till February 7, while a parallel national fair to exhibit and sell coir products will be on till February 9.

A series of seminars and cultural programmes in the evening are also scheduled on the fest days.