The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Yercaud sees steady tourist inflow

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Friday, Apr 29, 2011
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Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

Yercaud sees steady tourist inflow

Special Correspondent

Hotels enjoy healthy occupancy; spots such as Deer Park bring cheer to children

Photos: E. Lakshmi Narayanan

Funtime and mom-time: Tourists enjoying a ride in the new battery-powered car in Yercaud in Salem district. (right) The newborn deer with its mother at Deer Park. —

YERCAUD: The summer rains have brought not only the cheers to the residents of the hill station atop the Shevaroyan Hills here but also a steady flow of tourists.

Heavy rain

The moderate to heavy rains, which drenched the verdant resort for close to seven days continuously, has brought the temperature down to a pleasant level wooing the tourists especially from those in the neighbouring Karnataka in droves.

Tourism in Yercaud has picked up from this week with hotels enjoying healthy occupancy of about 60 per cent since the start of the rains this week and after the conclusion of the State Assembly polls.

“Tourism, the mainstay here, has suffered some two years back because of the recession and the subsequent fall of the IT industry. We are totally depending on the IT industry in Bangalore for our survival here,” says a leading resort owner.

They are also not dissatisfied with the week-end bookings, which in a few hotels are near 100 per cent.

The Tamil Nadu Tourism Department's Boat Club, the prime attraction on any tourist's itinerary, is seen buzzing with activity. The administration has already taken up its desilting works. The teeming youngsters and the blaring honks of their trendy sedans and sporty bikes could be seen around the lake and other places of tourists' attraction. Apart from the usual sight-seeing spots such as the Deer Park, where a new arrival has brought cheer to the visiting tiny-tots, the tourism industry here has also showcased a few innovative aspects too. ‘Plantation Tourism' and ‘Eco-tourism', for which many have evinced keen interest despite spending some extra bucks, are catching up fast. “Many prefer cottages and villas deep inside the coffee and citrus fruit plantations for which Yercaud is known for,” says a businessman, who owns a British-built bungalow which was converted into a resort that attracts Europeans. The district administration has also announced that the annual summer festival with its dash of tribal culture will be held in the last week of May.

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