The Hindu : Other States / Pondicherry News : Spurt in tourist flow into Pondicherry

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Saturday, Dec 25, 2004

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Other States - Pondicherry

Spurt in tourist flow into Pondicherry

By S. Nadarajan

PONDICHERRY, DEC. 24. With the administration showcasing Pondicherry as a tourist destination, the flow of visitors to the Union Territory during weekends is more. One should book in advance for accommodation if one prefers to visit Pondicherry on Saturdays and Sundays.Star hotels and lodges are fully booked as one could come across busloads of tourists zooming into this erstwhile French colony.

The entire beach road has been given a facelift. A serene beach project is also coming up at Uppalam on the southern tip of Pondicherry.

Apart from being a tourist centre, Pondicherry has also come to known as a spiritual centre. Sri Aurobindo Ashram is one of the important tourist destinations with people from different parts of the country making a beeline to the ashram to pay homage at the samadhis of Sri Aurobindo and The Mother. With a view to provide a clean environment, the municipal authorities remove garbage every day from the main thoroughfares, side roads and bypass routes. Contract workers are also engaged in the task. Apart from a separate department for tourism, the administration has also been operating a corporation for development of tourism and transport together. There is a proposal to bifurcate the corporation so that more attention could be given to tourism activities.

The Department of Tourism has been holding every year shopping (December to January) and international yoga festivals.

An official source told The Hindu today that as many as 3.11 lakh domestic tourists visited Pondicherry in 1992. The flow had been on the rise constantly and during 2003 more than five lakh tourists visited the Union Territory. Number of foreigners, who visited Pondicherry in 1992, was 10,774 and it had risen to 25,559 last year, the source said.

While the State budget earmarked Rs. 10.93 crores for promotion of tourism during the current financial year (2004-05), the Centrally-sponsored schemes, involving an allocation of Rs 3.53 crores, had also been enabling the Administration to strengthen and stabilise its tourism projects.

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