TN mulls new travel circuit programme

To launch Vivekananda tourist circuit programme in a couple of months

The Tamil Nadu tourism department is planning to come out with Vivekananda tourist circuit programme in the next couple of months.

Addressing the reporters after inaugurating the 46th Travel and Tourism Fair, V Varaprasada Rao, secretary, tourism, Government of Tamil Nadu, said that the department recently launched Adi Sankara and Jain tourist circuits.

Adi Sankara circuit will cover places such as Kanchipuram, Tiruvottiyur, Chidambaram, Tiruchi, Madurai and Tiruchendur. About Rs 4 crore has been spent on the development of infrastructure, refurbishment and to create basic amenities in various places for the circuit.

About Rs 3 crore has been spent on the Jain tourist circuit, which will cover about five Jain temples in the state. The Centre has provided Rs 4 crore to Rs 5 crore for each important destinations like Kanyakumari and Kanchipuram for the development of infrastructure, he added.

A state government document said that a tourist circuit is defined as a route on which at least three major tourist destinations are located and none of these are in the same town, village or city.

At the same time, they should be in such proximity that a tourist would like to cover them in a sequence. It should have well-defined entry and exit points.

A tourist who enters at the entry point should get motivated to visit all the places identified on the circuit. For the development of one tourist circuit area or circuit, the Government of India would sanction a maximum amount of Rs 8 crore

Rao said that the state's allocation to tourism department was Rs 3 crore in 2001. It was increased to about Rs 33 crore in 2002 for the development of tourism infrastructure and promotional activities.

On an overage, the state allocates over Rs 30 crore per year for infrastructure development and promotions. A separate fund ranging between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 1 crore has been earmarked in each district for the development of tourism infrastructure, he added.

A state government report said that the government has implemented 194 schemes in the last five years for the development of tourism infrastructure with an outlay of Rs 133 crore.

He said that Tamil Nadu occupied the second position in attracting more number of foreign tourists. Of the total 3 million foreign tourists visited India in 2005, Tamil Nadu attracted one third. In the case of domestic tourists, it was occupying the third position.

Of its total 48 hotels in the state, Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation has so far privatised (franchised) 15-18 hotels, he said, adding that the hotels were franchised on a 15-25 year lease agreements.

Travel and Tourism Fair, which is underway in Chennai, is being organised by Mumbai-based Fairfest Media with a view to providing 'under-one-roof' opportunity to people to make their travel plans "� both national and international.

The event is being supported by India Tourism. Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan are partner states.

Tourism departments from Pondicherry, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and West Bengal are also participating in the fair. Nepal and Kerala are the feature country and feature state respectively.

Over 10,000 general and 1,000 trade visitors are expected to participate in this event.

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WOOING THE TRAVELLER

The state tourism department recently launched Adi Sankara and Jain tourist circuits

Rs 4 crore has been spent for development of infrastructure and basic amenities in various places for the circuit

The Centre has provided Rs 4 crore to Rs 5 crore for each important destinations

Tamil Nadu occupies the second position in attracting more number of foreign tourists; third in attracting domestic tourists