It’s not often that Chennai makes it on a must-visit list, but 2014 seems to have been the city’s year.
Chennaiites have long known that their city is well worth a visit. But it’s only recently that it has made a name for itself as a tourist hotspot.
First, it was featured as destination 26 on TheNew York Times ’ ‘52 Places to Go in 2014’ and now, Lonely Planet has put it at number nine on a list of 10 best cities to visit in 2015.
Making a special mention of the city’s soon-to-run Metro Rail, the brief on Lonely Planet’s website says: “If nothing else, fast and frequent air-conditioned trains will transform the experience of exploring this humid metropolis. And there’s plenty to see: statue-covered Dravidian temples, fascinating museums, British-era fortifications and churches, a 3km-long beach, and India’s second-largest movie industry, ‘Kollywood’.”
Chennai is the only Indian city to have been featured on Lonely Planet’s list, which rated Washington DC as number one and Toronto as number 10.
“Over the last year, we have seen a 30 per cent increase in arrivals to Chennai,” said Venkatraman Suresh, senior manager, Akshaya Tours and Travels, adding that most came for the temples and beaches. “Since foreign tourists generally do a lot of research before visiting a city, being featured on such lists definitely helps drawing more visitors,” he said.
While for some visitors the Theosophical Society, Kalakshetra, Santhome Church, a walking tour of Mylapore and other historical and heritage sites are the major attractions, others use Chennai as a starting point to explore Mahabalipuram, Puducherry and other cities in southern Tamil Nadu, said Priya Menon, owner of Aaditya Tours and Travels.
This view is echoed by Jacques Alliod, a tourist from Germany who has visited Chennai several times. “The visits to Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centre, Krishnamurti Foundation and the Theosophical Society were the highlights. And we liked to walk on Marina beach. But for us Chennai is the door to the rest of Tamil Nadu including Madurai and Tiruvannamalai,” he said in an email.
Will the Metro Rail really help boost tourism here? Travel blogger T. K. Krishnakumar (indiancolumbus.blogspot.com) thinks it could. “As of now, it is not very easy to commute in the city on public transport, and this makes it less accessible and friendly to tourists. Something should be done to make commuting in Chennai enjoyable and Metro Rail may bring about a positive change,” he said.
