Tourism

Tourism is like a bridge. It connects our countries and it can connect people to each other. - Karen Chen

Tourism promotes national integration, tolerance and understanding of
different cultures. It encourages preservation of monuments, heritage
properties and eco-sanctuaries, helps survival of traditional art forms, crafts
and culture. It has achieved rapid strides due to its capacity to earn foreign
exchange, generate employment opportunities and inculcate a sense of
heritage and fraternity in the minds of people. Tourism is the third highest
foreign exchange earner for India.
Tamil Nadu is a unique state from the tourism point of view. The
immense tourist wealth of Tamil Nadu is one of the greatest assets of the
State. Nature has bestowed Tamil Nadu with countless number of tourist
spots such as hill stations, beaches, wild life sanctuaries, bird sanctuaries,
zoological parks etc. The long and rich history of the Tamil language and
society is marked by temples, pilgrim centres, historical and heritage
monuments etc. Tamil Nadu, the gateway of South India, has emerged as the
hub of tourism for West Asia and South East Asia. UNESCO has declared 788
places in the world as heritage sites, out of which, 26 are in India. Of these,
Tamil Nadu has been bestowed with 5 world heritage sites (i.e.) Rock cut
monuments at Mamallapuram, the Brahadeeshvara Temple at Thanjavur, the
Iravadisvara Temple at Darasuram, the Brahadeesvara Temple at
Gangaikondacholapuram and the Nilgiris Mountain Railway.
Tamil Nadu registered a 11.68% growth in terms of foreign tourist arrivals
in the year 2006 with the registered arrivals of 1.1 million tourists in the
State as against 4.43 million arrivals with a growth of 13% in India. Foreign
exchange earnings from tourism was Rs.3020 crore in Tamil Nadu achieving
an increase of 18.2% in 2006 as against Rs.29,604 crore with an increase of
17.6% for India.

The state has been vigorously pursuing a three pronged strategy of
attracting more tourists to Tamil Nadu, making them stay for a longer period
in the State, and providing them with world class infrastructure facilities in
order to boost the tourism sector. There are three types of tourists visiting the
state and separate strategies have to be designed to attract and retain each
category. With Chennai becoming a global metropolis, and the growth of
various industries such as automobiles, software, telecom and banking, Tamil
Nadu is fast becoming a favoured destination for business travellers. National
tourists i.e., tourists from the rest of India spend time in exploring the state in
detail, especially the zoological parks, pilgrimage centers, amusement parks,
shopping malls etc. On the other hand, foreign tourists are more interested
in visiting historical monuments, heritage sites as well understanding our
ecological and cultural resources. There is still substantial scope to promote
Tamil Nadu as a destination for business travellers as well as national and
international tourists.
Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation (TTDC)
The Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation (TTDC) was
incorporated in 1971 with the main object of promoting tourism in Tamil
Nadu by building up adequate tourism related infrastructure facilities on
commercial basis. Besides owning the largest chain of 55 hotels in South
India, the TTDC also provides facilities such as youth hostels, restaurants,
boat houses and other tourist attractions covering all the major tourist
destinations in the State. TTDC operates 37 types of package tours ranging
from half a day to 14 days. These tours cover tourist destinations in Tamil
Nadu as well as some of the other states and they are very popular with
tourists. TTDC also organizes the India Tourist and Industrial Fair every year
for a period of 90 days from January to March. The TTDC has been helping to
achieve the objective of boosting the tourism in the State by supporting the
activities of the Department of Tourism.