Stakeholders to boost Tamil Nadu tourism

Chennai: Commissioner of Tourism H.S. Meena has called for coordinated measures by the tour operators and other stakeholders in promoting the unique attractions of TN, particularly the cultural and heritage spots, as this would draw scores of tourists.

Deploring the lack of initiative among many operators to orient towards “marketing” destinations, he said “while we are engaged in our promotion activities, you are involved in your business promotion. There should be a synergy. We are open to all tourism stakeholders to join hands in taking coordinated steps to promote the tourism wealth of Tamil Nadu.”

Mr Meena was speaking at a one-day seminar organised by Tourism Department in connection with the World Tourism Day here on Monday. Referring to a meeting of heritage hotels association held in the national capital recently, Mr. Meena who is also managing dir-ector of Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation (TTDC) said he had to compel three hoteliers to participate in the meet. Promoting tourism should be voluntary, he said.

For its part, the department had appointed tourist officers for almost all the 32 districts and was engaged in publicity blitzkrieg to take the “Enchanting Tamil Nadu” to new heights, he said. The tour operators should be conscious of the needs of various segments of visitors — both domestic and international. The Germans for instance were keen on exploring the culture. “So, there should be proactive measures among travel agents and tour operators to market destinations,” claimed S. Bakthavatchalam, Additional Director of Tourism.

The perception of tourism has changed over the last four decades and from being confined to visiting the temples or picnic spots in their vicinity, people are now willing to spend huge sums of money to explore new destinations. "And so this calls for measures to capitalise on the affordability of people and also their inclination to travel," said V. K. T. Balan, TAAI chairman, Southern Region. TTDC willing to work out packages for students:

Regretting that many of the tourism students lacked knowledge on the diverse attractions of TN, and remained unaware that the state possessed the second largest mangrove forest in the world, Commissioner of Tourism H.S. Meena undersco-red the importance of making mandatory exposure visits to various destinations in the educational curriculum of tourism students. The TTDC is willing to customise the tours if the universities or colleges came forward to organise education trips, he said.