INDIA. Bengaluru International Airport operator Bangalore International Airport Ltd. (BIAL) has teamed up with The Coffee Board of India and Karnataka Tourism to launch a 10-day coffee festival, the Kaapi Trail, at the airport. Starting this week, the event marks the first time that an Indian airport will host a coffee festival of this size.
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The Kaapi Trail coffee festival at Bengaluru International Airport is designed to encourage passengers to explore the region’s coffee and enhance awareness of Karnataka’s rich culture and heritage |
The event was inaugurated by Coffee Board of India Chairman Jawaid Akhtar, Government of Karnataka Director of Tourism Viswanatha Reddy and Coffee Lab CEO Sunalini Menon. Also present were officials of BIAL and India Coffee Trust President Anil Bhandari.
BIAL Managing Director Sanjay Reddy said: “We have worked closely with Karnataka Tourism to promote the region and its rich culture and heritage. This year’s mega-event will be in the form of a coffee festival showcasing the coffee growing destinations of not only Karnataka but the entire southern region. We have so much to showcase to the world and make them aware of an entire new side of the region. We believe that efforts such as these will go a long way in establishing Bangalore as a gateway to the South of India and bring economic prosperity to this region. By the end of the festival we hope to engage with over two lakh (200,000) passengers and make them coffee experts.”
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At the Kaapi Trail launch at Bengaluru International Airport, from L-R: India Coffee Trust President Anil Bhandari; Government of Karnataka Director of Tourism Viswanatha Reddy; Coffee Board of India Chairman Jawaid Akhtar; BIAL President Operations Hari Marar; BIAL Director Finance Bhaskar Bodapati, BIAL Senior Vice President Tom Shimmins |
The Coffee Festival will be serving speciality coffee from nine regions including Araku Valley, Bababudangiri, B R Hills, Chikmagalur, Coorg, Nilgiris, Sheveroy Hills, Travancore and Nelliyampathy and Pulneys. Special add-ons will be offered to allow travellers to customise their coffee experience. The event will give passengers an opportunity to interact with coffee experts, engage in live coffee making demonstrations and cupping (a coffee-tasting technique).
Coffee Board of India Chairman Jawaid Akhtar said: “We are delighted that Bengaluru International Airport is providing an opportunity and a platform to explore coffee in a distinctive way. This 10-day Coffee Festival will provide a great venue for coffee experts to meet a broad cross-section of interested and interesting coffee consumers. The festival will help enhance and promote knowledge of the region and coffee-drinking habit of the state that is core to its heritage.”
Speaking at the event, Department of Tourism Director Viswanatha Reddy said: “The Bangalore International Airport Kaapi Trail being the first ever festival hosted by an airport in India, it is a very important development for promoting tourism. The coffee regions offer not only the best flavours but also are the most scenic tourist destinations of the regions, and we are happy to be associated with this activity. The tourism industry in Karnataka collectively stands to benefit by targeting travellers passing through one of the iconic airports in the country.”
