The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : “Plans on to promote tourism between French region, State”

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Tuesday, Dec 01, 2009
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Tamil Nadu - Chennai

“Plans on to promote tourism between French region, State”

Staff Reporter

Members of Loire Valley Tourism Board on visit

— Photo: R.Ravindran

President of Loire Valley Tourism Board Alain Beignet (left) and Managing Director of the Tourism Board Vincent Garnier explain the history behind some of the castles spread across the Loire valley region, at an event aimed at encouraging sustainable tourism, in Chennai on Monday.

CHENNAI: A decentralised cooperation agreement between the Central Region of France and Tamil Nadu is in place and plans to encourage sustainable tourism and student exchange programmes are being evolved, said Alain Beignet, president of Loire Valley Tourism Board.

He was addressing reporters and representatives from the tourism industry here on Monday as part of a visit by members of Loire Valley Tourism Board to promote the cooperation programme between the French Central Region and Tamil Nadu.

Local administrations in France have the power to manage their international cooperation strategies themselves under French laws. The Central Region’s long-term collaboration with the State will be along three themes.

A project for the conservation and promotion of Chettinad, a tourist destination in southern Tamil Nadu known for its grand palaces, will be supported by the Regional Centre through financial and technical backing.

“Chettinad is very similar to the Loire Valley in France. Both places have grand palaces and monuments. We have some experience in conservation and we would like to bring in our expertise,” said Mr. Beignet.

The idea is to encourage sustainable cultural tourism in Chettinad, through the creation of a heritage house, a place of information and exhibition on conservation and development issues, he added. The collaboration agreement also aims to foster student exchange programmes between universities in the Central Region and four institutions in Chennai, IIT-Madras, University of Madras, SRM University and Anna University.

The final facet of collaboration is the long-term vision of promoting tourism exchanges and strengthening the economic links between the two countries.

“Exchange starts at the human level. It then moves on to cultural exchange and leads to economic exchange. We live in a globalised world today and it is no longer possible to live within our own self-contained place without any engagement,” said Mr. Beignet. Though the number of tourists from India to the Loire Valley region is currently low, efforts will be made to improve the situation through targeted promotional offers, he said.

Vincent Garnier, managing director, Loire Valley Tourism Board, replied to queries raised by the audience.

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