Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh build temple ties to boost tourism

CHENNAI: There are an estimated 34,000 temples in Tamil Nadu. Neighbouring Andhra Pradesh attracts more than 50,000 visitors a day through the famous Venkateswara temple in Tirupati. Now, the two states which currently draw the maximum number of tourists to the country have joined hands to increase the rate of arrivals. While Andhra Pradeshdraws the most domestic tourists in the country, Tamil Nadu is ranked the topstate in attracting the maximum number of foreign tourists due to the efforts ofthe government over the last four years, V Irai Anbu, secretary for tourism andTamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation (TTDC) chairman, said onMonday.Speaking at the signing of an MoU between both the states, hepointed out that the initiative had paved the way for tourists taking the TTDC'strips to arrange package tours to Andhra Pradesh thereby giving them a 15%discount. Places of tourist importance in Andhra Pradesh would be promoted atTTDC offices and hotels while the same would be done by the Andhra PradeshTourism Development Corporation (APTDC) as well.Previously, TamilNadu had entered into similar promotional arrangements with Sikkim, Karnataka,Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Orissa, Maharashtra, Gujarat andGoa. According to APTDC vice-chairman and managing director Sandeep KumarSultania, Tamil Nadu was the tenth state with which Andhra Pradesh had enteredinto an understanding. Sources from the department said that thisMoU could be the first step in arranging a pan-South Indian package tourismdrive. Though it had been attempted earlier, officials from the department saidit had failed to take off. However, A Chittaranjan Mohandoss, director fortourism and MD for TTDC, appeared to be taking it one step at a time by sayingthat the initiative had paved the way by opening up all the tourist destinationsin one state."Previously, we did not really have a link with ourcounterparts in Andhra Pradesh and were only running package tours to Tirupati.Now, we can send tourists to every part of Andhra Pradesh, thanks to the MoU.There is a lot of scope for growth for both states under this initiative," hesaid.