To encourage and motivate the tricity residents especially the youth to vote, Chandigarh Tourism and Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) jointly launched a campaign called ‘Festival of Elections’ from 5 April to 11 April 2014 here today. 

“The campaign which aims to ‘celebrate the spirit of democracy’ includes ‘Live Bhangra & Gidda performances’ by seasoned artists at Sector 17 Plaza and Sukhna Lake on 5 & 6 April 2014 respectively from 5 pm onwards and Live Rockband performance in Sector 17 Plaza on 6 April 2014 and many special tie ups for attractive offers, schemes, concessions and 15-30 % discounts for UT voters with premium brands, restaurants, leading garment stores, eating joints, Malls, jewellers and renowned sweet shops in addition to a 35 % off at CITCO Hotels, whose complete details are on our website www.Chandigarhtourism.gov.in ”, shared Ms Tanvi Garg, Director – Tourism, Chandigarh Administration while addressing as session on ‘Festival of Elections’ at CII NR Headquarters in Sector 31 A, here today.“As we Chandigarhians have a knack to celebrate everything, so we thought lets celebrate Elections as well. At Sector 17 Plaza and Sukhna Lake, alongside the entertainment, we would also counsel the youth and take pledges from them to perform their duty to vote positively, which is imperative for a better India”, she informed.

“Aimed at promoting Chandigarh as an ideal destination for Weekend tourism, UT Tourism Department has initiated a unique concept of ‘Happening Weekends of Chandigarh’. We have also introduced a dedicated website - www.weekendsofchandigarh.com which would soon be ready and updated every Wednesday to give details about weekly happenings in the city under different verticals like Theatre, Arts & Crafts, Shopping, Workshops, Exhibitions, Entertainment, Adventure, Food Festivals, Overnight Excursions, Pilgrimage and Sports etc. Hence by making available all desired information on activities in different weekends in Chandigarh at just one click, we wish  to exploit the immense potential of promoting Chandigarh nationally and globally as an attractive ‘Weekend Destination’”, added Ms Garg.Sharing details, she added that “The Chandigarh voters can avail 30% discounts on 10 & 11 April 2014 by showing the vote mark on their fingers at around 35 Restaurants and Hotels like Aroma, Hot Millions2, Yo China, Sundarams, KLG, South End, Giani, Hotel Orange, KC Residency, Heritage, Park Grand, Maya Palace, Monarch, Jullundhar, Purple Rice, Western Court etc in addition to a 35 % off on food at Hotel Mountview and Shivalik view while 20 % off at Parkview while Sindhi and Gopal Sweets would offer 10% discount. Also, the shopping freaks have a big reason to vote as they can avail 10-15 % discount at outlets like Kapsons, Krome, Talwar Sons, Packard’s, Jain Sons, Kapkids, Raymonds, Trendestters, Bombay Traders, Kohinoor, Amarsons, Meena Bazaar, Poshak, Sham Fashion Mall, Dewsun Catwalk & many more”.“The initiative would not just encourage people to vote but also promote the city’s economy and thus bringing benefits to all the stakeholders regardless of the scale of their operations,” she said.

“It high time all stakeholders like the hospitality, retail, transport and travel industry, small service providers, sports, art & culture organisations as well as the Media should work together to promote Chandigarh as one of preferred tourism destination for weekend travellers. CII suggests that we just need to market all the ingredients that the city already has, like proximity to nature and hills, with Kasauli and Shimla next door, Sukhna Wildlife Sanctuary Nepli and Kansal forests and modern architectural heritage sites, easy way of life and cleanliness in addition to ,” shared Mr Manmohan Singh, Immediate Past Chairman, CII Chandigarh Council, CEO, Hotel Aroma.

“The city also has tremendous scope in lifestyle, shopping and weekend tourism with a lot of shopping malls and international shopping facilities being available here. All that we need is its structured approach to brand it well. The idea of Weekend Tourism will serve as a perfect medium to achieve this goal,” said Mr Darpan Kapoor, Chairman, CII Chandigarh Council & Vice Chairman, Kapsons Group.