World Tourism Day celebrated in the Nilgiris

Tourism Minister flags off World Tourism Day procession in Udhagamandalam, highlighting State's tourism promotion efforts.

Tourism Minister K. Ramachandran flagged off a procession to celebrate World Tourism Day in Udhagamandalam in the Nilgiris on Friday.

The procession was organised by the Nilgiris Hotel and Restaurant Association (NHRA), with over 300 participants from the hospitality sector taking part in the celebrations. Speaking to reporters at the event, Mr. Ramachandran said that the State government was undertaking multiple steps to promote tourism across Tamil Nadu. He said that the theme for this year’s celebrations was ‘Tourism and Peace.’

Mr. Ramachandran said that as part of Chief Minister, M.K. Stalin’s vision to transform the State’s economy and towards becoming a 1 trillion dollar economy, the government was focusing on tourism in achieving its goals. The Minister, who is also the Coonoor MLA, said that the tourism industry contributed to 7% of the State’s industrial economy, and that the government planned to capitalise on this by improving over 300 tourist locations across the State as outlined in the Tamil Nadu Tourism Policy 2023.

He then went onto highlight the development works being undertaken at tourist spots across the State. He added that efforts were being taken to promote 12 different forms of tourism, including beach tourism, medical tourism and rural tourism.

Efforts to improve lodging facilities and tourism infrastructure, along with improving the hospitality afforded to tourists will ensure that more tourists will stay for longer durations in the State, he added.

Later in the day, District Collector, Lakshmi Bhavya Tanneeru inspected the floral arrangements made at the Government Botanical Garden (GBG) for the second tourist season in the Nilgiris.

As part of he World Tourism Day celebrations, a food court was organised near the GBG by the Tamilnadu Tourism Development Corporation (TTDC) and the NHRA. Earlier, a clean-up initiative, called “Bottles for Change” was launched at Doddabetta Peak, organised by Bisleri International Private Limited, the Nilgiris district administration, and JSS Academy of Higher Education and Research.