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Our Bureau

Thiruvananthapuram, April 2

Kerala Tourism and the Cochin Port Trust (CPT) have launched a Web site on the India stopover of the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09, to be held in Kochi in December.

The site, www.volvoracecochin.com, was launched at a ceremony in the city on Wednesday. Speaking on the occasion, the Kerala Tourism Secretary, Dr Venu V., said Kochi is the first Indian port to be selected to host a stopover of the prestigious race. The event will be a major boost for Kerala Tourism’s marketing efforts and will bring with it global media exposure for Kerala, he added.

Kerala Tourism and CPT are jointly hosting the India stopover of the Volvo Ocean Race 2008-09, which will begin in Alicante in Spain in October this year and end in St Petersburg towards the middle of next year. Seven teams have already registered for the race and two more are likely to join the event, said Dr Venu.

The Kochi stopover, which is at the end of the second leg of the race, will be from December 3 to 13, said Mr N. Ramachandran, Chairman, CPT. From Kochi, the yachts will sail to Singapore.

Besides being a sporting event, the stopover is also a business event with business conclaves likely to be organised around it, he explained. Executives from the companies that are sponsoring the race and team sponsors are expected to visit Kochi during the stopover, he added.

The CPT is in the process of building the necessary offshore and onshore infrastructure required for the event, including a race village on Willingdon Island in Kochi, he said. Approximately Rs 30 crore is likely to be invested in improving infrastructure in time for the race, he explained. The CPT and Kerala Tourism are in the process of identifying sponsors to support the race’s India stopover, he added.

Lots of local events are being planned around the stopover, Mr Ramachandran said. This includes exhibitions, water sports events and water sports competitions.

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