Dive, fly, sail, climb, Glide: Destination TN

CHENNAI: Tourism in Tamil Nadu would never look the same again if the State Tourism Policy, released in September 2023 by Chief Minister MK Stalin, gets implemented in all its glory.

The policy has an ambitious goal to attract investment of Rs 20,000 crore in five years, and being reviewed periodically by the State Tourism Minister K Ramachandran and the concerned authorities.

The highlights of the policy includes the generation of employment of 25 lakh persons across the State, contribution to at least 12% of the State GDP annually, facilitating skill development of 3 lakh workers and reaching 5 lakh downloads of the TN Tourism app.

The State tourism department plans to concentrate its efforts on 12 different themes, including adventure, recreation, caravan, rural and plantation, coastal, cultural, medical and wellness, religious, eco, MICE, heritage and firm tourism.

The Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation (TTDC) has been entrusted to implement the policy, which would be valid for five years from 2023.

A senior spokesperson from TTDC said that in six months, more than 10 review meetings were conducted. “To implement the policy, review meetings were held in each district headed by collectors and local stakeholders to identify potential tourism places in their respective regions,” he said.

Adding that the respective district collectors will be showcasing the tourism policy to the prospective investors in their districts, he stated: “A separate stall exclusively for tourism was established in the recently-concluded Global Investor’s Meet. The department has already identified 300 anchor tourism sites that are popular, hold high attraction value, and are well known among the local population. Such sites are envisaged to be developed into world-class attractions with high levels of service quality and are spread across all geographical clusters and categories of sites,” he elaborated.

The list of anchor tourism sites will also be published by the department shortly. To ensure smooth execution of works, the TTDC will actively coordinate with the concerned government departments and agencies.

“These sites will be modernised, which would include re-imagining and upgrading each tourist location, taking into account the desires and anticipations of today’s global tourists. Constant improvements in the tourism infrastructure are crucial to stay aligned with the latest global trends and satisfying the evolving demands of modern travellers,” the spokersperson pointed out.

As a part of the policy, the TTDC has also initiated adventure tourism to attract youth travellers from across the globe.

Accordingly, the tourism department has received statements of interest from activity operators for organising adventure activities in many parts of the State. “Through this policy, the department aims to facilitate such operators and create a mechanism for guided adventure tourism operations,” stated the TTDC official.

“The department has issued a scheme for the registration of adventure tourism operators in Tamil Nadu to streamline and standardise the operations in the State.” Guidelines have also been issued by the Ministry of Tourism for ad- venture tour operators.

The TTDC will ensure the licensed operators in Tamil Nadu follow these guidelines and adhere to strict safety protocols.

S Gunasekar, a leading tour operator in the city opined that the State government should engage with local and international tour operators, establishing partnerships to promote tourism offerings of the State in key source markets.

“Authorities have to collaborate with tourism departments in other states to create mutually beneficial relationships, facilitating road- shows and integrated multi-modal connectivity to promote inter-state tourism, including tying-up with online travel agencies to curate specialised tours and itineraries that highlight the unique at- tractions of Tamil Nadu,” he explained.

As per the State government’s plan, curated literature and branding material shall be circulated to the partners through regular workshops and interactions, to enact a uniform marketing and promotion strategy for the State.

K Sekar, another train and air tour operator, said, “A comprehensive digitisation effort will be undertaken to capture and showcase Tamil Nadu’s major tour- ism assets, with a special focus on its historical and cultural sites. This will cre- ate a publicly accessible repository of high-resolution photos, three-dimen- sional models, and virtual tours, allow- ing visitors to immerse themselves in the State’s captivating hotspots.”

As per the record given by TTDC in 2023 till October, more than 9.53 lakh foreign tourists and 23.83 lakh travellers from other states visited Tamil Nadu.