More and more foreign travellers seem to be finding solace in the cool and scenic beaches and backwaters of Tamil Nadu, which is also home to renowned religious spots like Brihadeshwara temple, Vardaraja temple and Meenakshi temple among others.
As per the Government data for 2014, the southern State has emerged a favourite tourist destination among foreign travellers. Around 46.57 lakhs foreign tourists travelled during the year, highest among the States, followed by Maharashtra (43.89 lakhs) and Delhi (23.19 lakhs).
Though Goa was nowhere among the top 10 favourite States, it witnessed a marginal rise in the number of foreign travellers from 4.9 lakhs in 2013 to 5.1 lakhs in 2014, says the data tabled by the Union Tourism Ministry in Parliament last week.
Overall, foreign tourists’ visits (FTVs) have increased from 1.82 crore in 2012 to 1.99 crore in 2013 and 2.25 crore in 2014 in the country.
Higher number of footfalls has boosted the national exchequer too. The data shows that foreign Exchange Earnings (provisional) through tourism in the country during 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 were `94,487 crore, `1,07,671 crore and `1,23,320 crore respectively.
Andhra Pradesh, Daman & Diu, Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, Karnataka were the only States/UTs which reported decline in footfall in 2014 from the previous year.
Tour operators feel that one of the major reasons for foreigners showing little interest to once evergreen hotspots like Delhi and Goa has been safety issue and also natural calamities in Kedarnath.
Srinivas Rao, Managing Director of Rao Travels, a tour operator which also provides South India tour packages, said, “Natural calamities like Kedarnath catastrophes besides rising crimes against tourists in North Indian States has prompted the foreigner travellers to look towards South.
“And since Tamil Nadu has everything for everyone and anything whether its temples or beaches or adventurous sports start from Tamil Nadu itself, it is now calling of the tourists.”
Suggesting reasons why TN is attracting foreigners, Har Sahay Meena, Commissioner of Tourism & MD, Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation had said at a FICCI conference last year “as Tamil Nadu has its unique culture and abundant tourism potential, tourists from upcountry and abroad flock the tourist spots throughout the year.
“To facilitate the tourists, the corporation has been taking enduring efforts to promote tourist places by providing basic infrastructure like public convenience, rest shed, drinking water, road improvement, car parking, etc.
“TN is anticipating the tourism sector to grow at a robust pace due to its emergence as a key business and cultural hub. Also tourism is one of the prime focus sectors in Tamil Nadu Vision 2023,” he said.
The investment target set for the tourism sector is `10,300 crore. It is also targeted to receive 150 lakh foreign tourists by 2023, said R Kannan, Additional Chief Secretary to Tourism, Culture and Religious Endowments & Chairman, TTDC.