With the annual Summer Golf Meet of the 118-year-old Ootacamund Gymkhana Club getting under way albeit without any fanfare on the undulating Lord Wenlock Downs, a short distance away from the town, a view doing the rounds here is that such activities should be used to promote value-added tourism in this popular vacation destination where effective tourism related initiatives have been conspicuous by their absence for the past several years.
Though it has been pointed out by many that the scope for promoting golf tourism here was enormous and the idyllic Lord Wenlock Downs was the home of one of the most challenging golf courses in the world, it has not been exposed properly.
It can be converted into a major tourist attraction as apart from golf, the rolling grasslands of the Wenlock Downs are a rare sight.
Pointing out that tourists are flocking to Udhagamandalam mainly to get away from the scorching heat in the plains, secretary, Nilgiri Hotels and Restaurants Association, N.Chandrashekar said that while the salubrious weather would continue to be the main attraction in the years ahead, all stakeholders should evolve ways to promote different kinds of tourism in the hill station.
OGC secretary K.Krishnakumar said that the Summer Golf Meet would go on till the last week of May.
