Belonging to the 1992 batch, M Rajaram is a postgraduate in law, English and education. He also holds a doctorate in human resource management. He has diversified experience in governance of different sectors such as land revenue, health and family welfare, urban and rural development, and labour at district and state level. He has also been Collector of Thanjavur and Chennai, and Managing Director of the Slum Clearance Board and State Housing Board. He is currently Commissioner, Tamilnadu Tourism Development Corporation. He spoke to gfiles’ Sumit Bothra in Chennai:
gfiles: With reference to the all-India increase in tourist inflow, has Tamil Nadu done better in the last few years?
M Rajaram: Yes, there is a sustained increase year after year. Tamil Nadu has been among the top performers in tourism in India. Last year, the state attracted 524 lakh tourists out of which almost 5 crore were domestic tourists. Our foreign exchange earnings were Rs 5430 crore.
This shows a 50 per cent growth in earnings and a 25 per cent growth in tourist inflow in the state. This has been the result of a sustained marketing and promotional efforts of this department.
gfiles: Religious tourism has been high on the agenda of many states.
In TN, there are prominent places like the Madurai, Tanjore and Rameswaram temples. Even the Vivekananda Memorial in Kanyakumari attracts many Indians. Are you planning something special to attract more people?
MR: Pilgrims visit religious destinations based on their faith and following. Tamil Nadu Tourism has always taken effort to ensure comfort and safety of pilgrims. We also interact with other departments to develop better connectivity and infrastructure at these places. Our job is to promote responsive tourism.
gfiles: TN is considered a peaceful and safe area. How do you propose to utilize this to increase revenue from tourism?
MR: Tamil Nadu is a garden of peace. Safety and security of tourists is of utmost importance to visitors in any region. Ours is a calm and tourist-friendly state. There has been no untoward incident regarding tourists. Hospitality is an important aspect of Dravidian culture.
gfiles:Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra have benefitted from business and medical tourism. But TN seems to be lacking this initiative.
MR: Tamil Nadu is known not just for hospitality but also for its state-of-the-art hospitals. Medical tourism has been prevalent here for over 50 years. CMC in Vellore is internationally known. Corporate hospitals were first started in Chennai and then spread across India. TTDC has all details of the listed hospitals on its website. There is a medical desk in the Tourism Complex. Tamil Nadu Tourism is a facilitator which disseminates information and provides access to various medical centres across the state. We have also conducted capacity-building training for hospital staff to provide tourist information to patients and attendants.
As for business tourism, a large number of corporates have set up their offices in Tamil Nadu and especially in Chennai. So a large number of business tourists from the US, UK, South Korea, etc. visit Tamil Nadu on business.
gfiles: Tourists face a language problem in TN. Hindi is not spoken here and English is not common among Indian tourists, especially from the north. Do you have any plans for creating a special force of guides to tackle this problem?
MR: The state gets visitors not just from north India but also from the east, Northeast and other nonTamil-speaking regions. The visitors find it quite easy to move around. Tourist spots have trained English-speaking guides and quite a few of them speak not only Hindi but also other languages, including foreign languages. The state has about 600 trained guides and the tourism department conducts courses to update their knowledge and skills. Tamil Nadu has always been very strong in English as it is a highly literate state.
‘The tourism depart
ment encourages
local inhabitants to
register in the Home
Stay Programme’
gfiles: Besides religious places and tourists spots developed by the British, there are no new areas of tourist attraction. Is TN ready to consider public-private participation (PPP)for developing new areas to attract more tourists?
MR: In line with the trend and the paradigm shift, the TN government encourages PPP in all sectors including tourism. The government provides a subsidy to investors as an incentive to promote development in new areas. At the micro level the tourism department encourages local inhabitants to register in the Home Stay Programme that offers bed and breakfast to tourists at very affordable rates. This also provides a livelihood to the local residents.
Tamil Nadu has lots of tourism marvels and temples dating back 2000 years. Tamil Nadu Tourism has been developing lesser-known tourist spots including hill stations such as Elagiri Hills, Kolli Hills, Yercaud, etc. Incentives and subsidies have also been announced to encourage investors.
gfiles: Travel infrastructure is in a bad shape in most states in India. Not many interior areas have airports or super-specialty hospitals of international standards. What is the TN government planning to do to improve this situation?
MR: Chennai, Coimbatore and Trichy have airports which provide international connectivity. Our road and interstate transport network is among the best in the country. The government is constantly improving transport and the road network connectivity.
gfiles: TN has a long sea shore but has no proper water sport or yachting facility even in Chennai. Do you have plans to develop sea shores on the lines of Goa?
MR: Tamil Nadu has over 1000 km of coastline with lagoons and back waters suitable for water sports. Marina Beach in Chennai is the world’s second longest beach. Other popular beaches are Elliots, Mamallapuram, Cuddalore, Tranquebar (known for ozone-rich ambience), Poompuhar (ancient port city), Velankanni, Rameswaram, Tiruchendur, Kayalpattinam, Ovari, Kanyakumari, Nagercoil, Thengaipattinam, etc. Popular water sports centres in the back waters of the east coast are Muttukadu and Mudaliarkuppam.
