Chennai: The fad for mobile and online reservation for the State-owned Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation (TTDC) hotels seems to be catching on among the people. The corporation has mopped up revenue of Rs 10.07 crore through online reservation during 2015 - 16.
This is up by a few lakh rupees as compared to the previous year. The facility of online reservation of TTDC hotels which earlier was provided to 17 hotels was extended to all the 22 hotels being operated by the corporation. “The slight increase in revenue through online bookings is encouraging. This needs to be popularised more as smartphones have become the order of the day,” a senior TTDC official said.
As part of an initiative to attract more visitors and encourage the high-end travellers, the tourism department has suggested to the tour operators involved in facilitating cruise tourism to modify the tours and include Chennai and Tuticorin in their itinerary. This would make the visitors spend more time on shore and visit several places of tourist attractions. “We suggested that the visitors are made to spend at least three to four days. This will help us to generate more revenue by providing an opportunity to the tourists to spend money on their travel related areas and indulging in buying handicrafts,” an official said. Two cruise ships arrived at Chennai port this year.
Coastal tourism is another area on which the tourism department is focusing its attention. Coastal tourism is based on a unique resource combination at the border of land and sea and based on this, tourism products have been developed, the official pointed out.
