The New Indian Express
19th December, 2002

Mega-tourism event to rock Chennai

CHENNAI: Chennai is all set to usher in Chennai Fest 2002, the first ever tourism show in the state with a city as its theme. Starting Friday, for 10 days, it will be all fun and masti at some of the city’s tourism hotspots as the Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation (TTDC) along with the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has lined up a tableaux of business, leisure and entertainment activities to showcase the state as a favourable destination for foreign and domestic tourists.

‘‘The idea is to project Tamil Nadu as a viable destination for private and public sector participation in tourism development,’’ C P Singh, state Commissioner of Tourism, told mediapersons on Wednesday. The festival aims at promoting not only tourism but also retailing and allied sectors to create awareness of heritage and tradition, he added.

The events kick off with a two-day conference-cum-exposition on Friday which will be inaugurated by B Jagmohan, Union Minister of Tourism and Culture and A Miller, state tourism minister. One of the main agendas of the conference will be to explore the idea of forming a southern tourism grid by taking help from tourism authorities of the four southern states. This will be followed by sessions in which tour operators, hospitality representatives, service providers, trade and industrial chambers will participate.

The ten-day schedule also includes shopping bonanzas, food festivals, sports activities, daily sight-seeing tours, heritage-related activities, a sound and light show, treasure hunts, music concerts, quiz competitions and to top it all, the fabled Mamallapuram dance fest.

Also on the cards is a unique concept called ‘Enjoy East Coast Road’ in which 21 organisations along the East Coast Road (ECR) will come together to promote area-specific tourism. One lakh brochures showing the tourism potential of the region will be distributed to the public, apart from 200 banners that will be put up along the 50 km stretch to herald the fest. A cycle rally along ECR will also be organised. Some of the participants include Tamil Nadu Road Development Corporation, Dakshina Chithra, Basera resorts, Food Village, VGP Golden Beach Resort, VGP Universal Kingdom, Dolphin city, Crocodile Bank, Cholamandal artists village and Fisherman’s Cove.

The CII was committed to the preservation of the region’s heritage and environment, Manoj Virmani, member, CII, told presspersons, adding that the aim was to project Tamil Nadu as the country’s cultural capital. The strategy to be adopted would include creating awareness, infrastructure and marketing facilities.

TTDC is also in the process of identifying certain areas of tourism and developing them holistically, said Singh, adding, that an effort to repackage the state’s tourism potential is also in the offing.

Meanwhile, the 29th All India Tourist and Industrial Fair will be inaugurated at Island Grounds, Chennai on December 29 and this year’s theme would be ‘Tourism-A vehicle of sustainable growth and development’, Singh said.