Vellore: More than 15 crore tourists are expected to visit Tamil Nadu by 2023, bringing a revenue of Rs.10 crore, said the Tamil Nadu Tourism minister, Vellamandi N. Natarajan at the two-day Kodai Vizha (Summer Festival) that began in Yelagiri Hills on Saturday.
He said that under the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J.Jayalalithaa’s Vision-2023 document, for promotion of tourism, various development activities at tourists’ spots have been undertaken. He revealed that in the year 2014, the State had been placed first for wooing a large number of tourists.
Mr Natarajan said the Chief Minister had been interested to promote tourism, particularly for providing infrastructure facilities for Yelagiri Hills, considered ‘Poor Man’s Ooty’.
He said he would take up with the Chief Minister the proposal to convert the Andiyappanur dam into a tourist spot.
State minister for Labour Welfare Dr Nilofer, in her speech said that the Chief Minister had ordered to undertake various development works for the promotion of tourism. She said the Yelagiri Hills comprised a boathouse, besides a waterfall and temples for Lord Shiva and Muruga.
The Commercial Tax and Registration department minister K.C.Veeramani, who inaugurated the ‘Kodai Vizha’, said the festival had been organised within a short span of time, immediately after the Chief Minister Ms. Jayalalithaa had assumed office.
The DRDA planning director Prof M.Manohar Singh welcomed the gathering. The Thiruvannamalai MP Vana Roja, DRO K.Manivannan, MLAs R.Balasubramanian, G.Loganathan, Jayanthi Padmanaban, A.Nallthambi and district panchayat committee president Leela Subramanian, Vellore district collector Dr R.Nanthagopal and many other officials were present at the summer festival’s inaugural.
