The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Tourists are wooed nationally, globally

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Saturday, Jul 19, 2008
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Tourists are wooed nationally, globally

Staff Reporter

3-day India International Travel Mart begins

Photo: R. Shivaji Rao

GUJARAT GALA: Dandiya in progress at Gujarat Tourism stall at the India International Travel Mart exhibition on Friday. —

CHENNAI: If you are planning to go on a holiday or organise a business conference for your company, a visit to the three-day India International Travel Mart (IITM), which began at the Chennai Trade Centre, Nandambakkam, on Friday, will provide you the opportunity to make a choice.

Over 150 participants, including representatives from Thailand, Dubai, Sri Lanka, Italy, Greece, Malaysia and, Switzerland, have brought in their tourism products to the fair. States and Union Territories, including Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Puducherry, have also put up stalls. Special offers are available for people, who book tours at the fair.

Uttarakhand Minister for Tourism Prakash Pant, who inaugurated the exhibition, said the government was paying special attention to provision of accommodation to all classes of tourists. Uttarakhand had been recently connected by air to Delhi and the government was also taking steps to make operational three air strips on mountains. The State, Mr. Pant said, had ample natural resources and 83 per cent of the land area was covered by mountains and 70 per cent by forests.

IITM Director Rohit Hangal said religious tourism still formed the biggest chunk of the tourism industry in India. Tourists were still opting for hill stations when it came to choosing holidays. Entry to the fair is free.

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