By Correspondent

Puducherry: A new initiative to integrate the tourism potential of South India, resulting into signing of an agreement to form Southern India Tourism Grid by the State Governments of Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and the Union Territory of Puducherry, explore the possibilities of offering greater opportunities both foreign and domestic tourists. The secretaries of tourism departments of the respective states gathered to participate in the meet, Building Southern Synergies - Tourism Colloquium, organized by Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), signed the joint declaration.

A common logo, a joint campaign in India and abroad, sharing overseas tourism offices, removing bottlenecks in inter-state taxation, developing south Indian tourism products, speeding up inter-state infrastructure are some of the ideas discussed in the meet. In his address, Mr. Malladi Krishna Rao, Tourism Minister, Government of Puducherry, ensured that his government would honor all the commitments made to make the southern dream possible. He stressed the need for close follow-up of the project. Pointing out that the South India is way ahead other regions of the nation in various indicators, Mr Pradipta K Mohapatra, Chairman, CII (Southern Region) has driven home the idea of starting with “low hanging fruits” that make the integration easier and faster. He said that Tourism is identified as one of the primary sectors of Building Southern Synergies, an initiative of CII.

Mr. Prem Subramaniam, Head, Tourism Infrastructure, IDFC insisted that the growth in industry has to be assessed honestly and said that importance of domestic tourists should not be neglected. Listing out the best practices of South Indian states like Kerala Trade Mart in Kerala, Temple devotees management in Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh, music festival season based tourism in Tamil Nadu, spirituality centric approaches of Puducherry and home stay programs in Karnataka, he emphasized the need for non-traditional tourism ideas too. He said that they could be based on themes like cricket, film industries or automobiles. Mr. T S Sridhar, IAS, Secretary (In-charge), Tourism & Culture Department, Government of Tamil Nadu, showcased the new initiatives in the state like rural tourism and beach tourism. He said that Indian Medical Association has shown interest in collaborating with the government in promoting Chennai as a medical tourism destination and the government is going to start travel desks in the hospitals that attract inbound tourists.

The Government of India has cleared a proposal to start, Southern Splendor, a luxury tourist train that connects major tourist hubs of south Indian, said Mrs. Chitra Ramachandran, IAS, Secretary, Tourism Department of Andhra Pradesh. Also insisting the uniqueness of the Southern region, she mooted the idea of having a common promotional vehicles like logo.Welcoming the idea of southern integrated tourism initiatives Mr. Sanjay Kaul, IAS, Director (Tourism), Government of Kerala and Mr. A Anbarasu, IAS, Secretary (Tourism), Government of Puducherry discussed about their own strengths and possible areas of cooperation. Mr. Anbarasu presented an elaborate account of tourism measures like beach beautification project in the union territory and express the possibility of developing Karaikal as an airport hub for religious hotspots like Thirunallar, Vailankanni, Nogoor, and neighboring TN temple towns of Chola age.

Regional