Dansborg Fort, a Danish fort built in 1620 at Tranquebar in Tamil Nadu. Also known as Tarangambadi, (The Wave Village) this is a tiny fishing village. It was named Tranquebar, by the Danes, who arrived here in the early 17th century, and made it one of their major trading posts. The fort houses a small museum, showcasing nautical and marine exhibits. (Photo as it appears on meadev.nic.in/tourism/states/tn/tranq.htm)

CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu, with its temples and beaches, is seeking to tap the growing international tourist traffic to Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

The government has begun talks with international travel and to highlight the attractions of Chennai, Kanyakumari and Madurai to the likes of tourists now headed for the Indian Ocean island of Sri Lanka or the Maldives in Arabian Sea, officials in the Tourism Department said.

With Indian Airlines offering to fly people to 15 destinations within India at economic rates and with a regular ferry from Colombo to the port of Tuticorin to be started soon, Tamil Nadu is seriously eyeing a share of the lucrative tourism bound for islands in the ocean and the sea.

The East Coast Road from Chennai to Kanyakumari, fast nearing completion, compliments the effort of the government, officials said.

Tamil Nadu with its plethora of temples has for long been the destination for tradition tourism in India.

“Ahead of the tourism season, the department’s plans for the coming winter is already on rail,” says S. Alagu Rajan, deputy director of the Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation (TTDC). Both domestic and international tourists can be leveraged through the new tieups, officials said.

The Tamil Nadu Tourism Department is already operating packaged tours domestically from several northern cities for as low as Rs. 8,500 ($177).

“These are becoming very popular for elderly people, and the maximum number of travelers using these see-Tamil Nadu packages are in the age groups 60-65,” said N. Ravi, a senior marketing executive at TTDC.

TTDC has a tieup with the Indian Railways. “We have identified trains from various cities to Chennai where we have reserved seats. These are in trains from Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Mumbai, New Delhi and Goa to Chennai.”

TTDC has sales promotion meets in the cities regularly. People have to just get in touch with TTDC offices in their respective cities.

“We will book them their rail tickets to and from their places of origin. We will receive them in Chennai, place them in the specific tour circuit they have chosen, do all their reservations in hotels even if TTDC does not have hotels of its own in these places. We will provide escorts to the groups, offer concessions to large groups, and give people tours according to what they want to see, not sell what we want,” Ravi said.

Both domestic and foreign tourists will not have to grapple with day-to-day logistics, the department says. From a few days, to a 15-day tour, anything can be organized. At least 10 Tamil Nadu destinations are offered in a 10-day package.

The federal government has announced it is ready to spend Rs. 50 million ($1.04 million) this year on developing tourist circuits in Tamil Nadu. As many as 15 new hotel projects have been okayed in southern India, several of them in Tamil Nadu.

Southern India’s biggest hotel equipment fair, ‘Hotel & Restaurant Tech 2003,’ is on at Chennai’s trade exhibition center, supported by the South Indian Hotels and Restaurant Association of India (SIHAR). Exhibition organizer, Unitex’s Executive Director M. Koteeswaran sees trade fairs and exhibitions as major draws for business class travellers. “Around 300 exhibitors and 15,000 products are on show in one place for the 55 hotels that the federal government has okayed since 2000,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu government and the Union Tourism Ministry are jointly sponsoring the Annual Skal International Congress in Chennai this October. The Chennai chapter of the noted international organization of tourism professionals will host the meet.

The Netherlands-based Skal International has 22,000 member organizations from 80 countries and the Skal Congress in Chennai is expected to bring world travel and tourism industry leaders to Tamil Nadu for a reconnaissance trip — a first step towards putting the state on the international tourism map.