42nd Kolkata International Book Fair to be cynosure of all eyes: Govt

"KIBF is one of the world's largest international book fair which witnesses reasonable footfall of foreign delegates including authors, bureaucrats and students. A number of international books are released every year at the fair venue and this year there will be no exception. Our aim is to promote the Fair in a manner so that it acquires its place in the map of world tourism," a senior official of the Tourism department said.

The KIBF this year starts from January 31 and will end on February 11.There will be representatives from more than 20 countries in the Fair and the 5th Kolkata Literature Festival (KLF) that will be held from February 8 until 10 at the KIBF venue will have as many as 60 writers from different countries across the globe. There will be 10 authors from the theme country France along with a good number of authors from Scotland, USA, Spain, Russia, Bangladesh etc.

"We have sent letters to a number of universities and five star hotels in the city and also to the foreign consulates that have their offices here urging them to ensure that more and more foreigners visit the KIBF this year. There are a number of state universities like Calcutta University, Jadavpur University, Rabindra Bharati University and private universities like Amity University, Adamas University in which a large number of foreign students study. We also want them to visit the Fair," the official added.

There will be a separate enclosure for foreign tourists at the Book Fair. A special team of 'Atithi Bandhu' has also been constituted for guiding the foreigners who visit the Fair. It may be mentioned that the state Tourism department had formed 'Atithi Bandhu' before the Under 17 World Cup event that was held in October last year with the maximum number of matches including the final in Kolkata.It may be mentioned that 'Atithi Bandhu' is a team that has been specially trained by the state to facilitate the foreign tourists during their visit in the city.

The Tourism department officials have already visited the venue of the Book Fair at Central Park in Salt Lake and have held meetings with the Bidhannagar Commissionerate informing them of their plans to promote tourism. "We will not be able to put up banners or similar things for promoting tourism owing to the shortage of space at the venue. However, we hope that our plans will fulfill our purpose," the official said.