Chennai, Sep 26 (FN Bureau) Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K.Stalin on Tuesday released new ‘Tourism Policy 2023’ which aims to attract investments of Rs 20,000 crore into this sector over the next five years and evolve Tamil Nadu into the most attractive experiential destination in Asia.. The goal of the policy was to position Tamil Nadu as a place for memorable, authentic and diverse tourism experiences and propel the state to new heights in the tourism landscape. The targets for the next five years, according to the policy, was to ensure Tourism contributes at least 12 per cent of State GSDP annually, to employ 25 lakh people in tourism and its supporting industries, attract an investment of Rs 20,000 crore in tourism and facilitate skill development of three lakh workers in tourism and its supporting industries. It envisions both enhancing and upgrading the existing tourism infrastructure, along with the establishment of new, greenfield projects.
The objectives of the policy are concentrated on enhancing tourism infrastructure, with the goals of developing existing towns/cities with good quality urban infrastructure as Gateway Hubs to enable visitors to initiate their journey. Chennai, Tiruchi, Madurai, Coimbatore and Kanniyakumari will be developed as gateway hubs and an allocation of 5% from the smart city funds will be dedicated to enhancing tourism infrastructure in primary Gateway Hubs. These Gateway Hubs would offer world-class standard facilities and amenities to the visitors like Connectivity to other parts of the country and foreign markets, Tourist facilitation and assistance, Tourist amenities like ATMs, foreign exchange, shopping etc. Easy mobility, good quality hospitality spaces. Transformation into an Integrated Tourism Hub with the aim to make Tamil Nadu a holistic and unified tourism experience, rather than a collection of individual tourist sites.