Southern states outline tourism initiatives

The four southern states and Puducherry outlined the new tourism initiatives and investment opportunities in their respective states on the concluding day of the 'Look South 2007''.

Chitra Ramachandran, secretary, AP department of tourism and culture, said 24 per cent of the tourist arrivals in the country is being received by the state. Public-private projects worth Rs 1,500 crore have been taken up and are generating, on an average, an annual income of Rs 1,779 crore.

G Kumar Naik, tourism commissioner, Karnataka, said the thrust of the new policy would be on de-regulation with proactive steps to attract investors in a private-public partnership mode.

Sanjay Kaul, director, Kerala tourism, said his state witnessed a growth of 518 per cent in foreign tourist arrivals and a 560 per cent growth in domestic tourist arrivals in the last 15 years.