TN unveils State Tourism Policy 2023; sets Rs 20,000 cr investment target in five years

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday unveiled its "State Tourism Policy 2023" to effectively develop, manage and promote tourism destinations in a sustainable and inclusive manner in the state. The policy has set a target of attracting investment to the tune of Rs 20,000 crore in five years and employing 25 lakh people in the state by supporting tourism industries.

The policy unveiled by Chief Minister M K Stalin at the state secretariat Tuesday morning has set eight key targets for the next years, including increasing the state tourism sector's contribution to the state GSDP to at least 12%, facilitating skill development of three lakh workers in tourism and its supporting industries, reach five lakh followers on social media handles of the state tourism department and reach five lakh downloads of TN tourism app in the next five years.

Establishing virtual tourist information centres across all anchor tourism sites in Tamil Nadu and technically equipping all anchor tourism sites in the state for enhanced tourist safety and convenience are the other targets set in the policy.

Priority segments: Disney-like amusement park near Chennai

The state government, which has identified 12 priority tourism segments, has envisaged the establishment of a large-format amusement park in partnership with the private sector, similar to global theme parks like Disney and Universal studios, spread over at least 100 acres on the outskirts of Chennai.

Policy objective, goals

Unveiled with an objective of also enhancing tourism infrastructure, the policy has laid down four goals, transforming the state into an integrated tourism hub, holistic development approach, modernizing tourism sites and guaranteeing seamless journey. One of the focus areas of the policy was developing existing towns/cities with good quality urban infrastructure into Gateway Hubs to enable visitors to commence their journey.