THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Guess who’s going to promote Ayurveda across the globe for Kerala? Tennis legend and former World No: 1 Steffi Graf. The State government has decided to appoint Graf as the brand ambassador for Ayurveda under the ‘Visit Kerala Scheme’ of Kerala Tourism.
The Cabinet, which met on Wednesday, has given its approval, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said. “The Cabinet has given its approval to the Tourism Department to sign an agreement with her,” he said.
Tourism Director P L Sheikh Pareeth said Graf has agreed to take on the job. “We decided on Graf because she is interested in Ayurveda, although she has not visited Kerala yet,” he said. He said an agreement with Graf will be finalised soon. She will be paid Rs 3.96 crore for a two-year contract. In July, Graf will visit Kerala for five days and spend time in different parts of the State for shooting of advertisements, a top official said. With 22 grand slam singles titles under her belt, Graf hogged the No: 1 position for 377 weeks. The German won the Wimbledon seven times, the French Open on six occasions, the US Open five times and the Australian Open four times.