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Puducherry witnesses more inflow of tourists

— Photo: T. Singaravelou

INCREASING VISITORS : The Puducherry beach serves as a major attraction for foreign tourists.

PUDUCHERRY: The flow of domestic and foreign tourists into the Union Territory (UT) has witnessed a significant increase in the last three years. The coastal town is slowly emerging as the preferable tourism destination in south India.

Projected as “Peaceful Puducherry,” the tourist arrivals in the Union Territory have grown with a number of tourism-friendly initiatives and intense promotional activities of the Tourism Department.

According to officials of the Directorate of Tourism, there were 36,009 foreign tourists in 2005. The inflow had increased to 46,273 in 2006 and 57,682 in 2007.

In the flow of domestic tourists, there were 5.74 lakh tourists in 2005 and over 6.52 lakh in 2006. The Union Territory received over 7.98 lakh domestic tourists in 2007, the directorate said.

“The Puducherry beach has emerged as the major attraction for visitors. This has been attracting repeat visitors. We have been taking efforts to enhance the tourism inflow through new projects such as beautifying the beach, development of Bharathi park and Paradise Island at Chunnambar,” an official of the Tourism directorate said.

Apart from the beach, the Aurobindo Ashram, Auroville, Chunnambar beach and heritage centres were the major attractions for tourists. “Tourists like the place as it is a well-planned city with a neat and clean beach area,” he pointed out.

With more projects on the anvil, Puducherry received maximum domestic tourists from Chennai and Bangalore during weekends. The inflow of foreign tourists from France and Germany was high, he added.

“Puducherry has a lot scope in the tourism industry. Thirty-one new hotels are coming up. The number of beds available for tourists is 7,000 now. This will increase to 8,000 in another year. The demand for accommodation is high, especially during weekends,” the official said.

Under promotional aspects, the directorate was participating in domestic and international tourism fairs. “We are undertaking intense marketing and this is one of the reasons for increased tourist inflow.”

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