Taking a cue from its Punjab counterpart about successful ‘rice tours’, the State Tourism Department plans to promote farm tourism in a big way in and around Pollachi and Thanjavur towns.
Currently, the Tourism Department focusses on pilgrimage tourism, heritage tourism, eco-tourism, beach tourism, rural tourism, medical tourism, adventure tourism and cultural tourism, besides promoting hill stations. It also plans to promote heli-tourism and cruises.
More areas and different types of tourism are being contemplated to prolong the stay of foreign tourists.
While Thanjavur, the rice bowl of Tamil Nadu, has been on the radar of the State Tourism department for a long time through heritage tourism, Pollachi, a picture perfect location for films, is an unexplored region. Nestled in the middle of the Coimbatore, Udumalpet, Valparai and Palakkad belt, Pollachi provides an ideal resting place for tourists, said tourism officials.
Talking to The Hindu , a top government official said, “Pollachi and Thanjavur offer more scope for tourism. As more and more people are constructing farm houses, we plan to make use of these facilities to provide a different experience to tourists by acting as a facilitator. We will be initiating a dialogue with prominent persons and businessmen in the area to give wide publicity.”
According to industry sources, Pollachi has been gaining momentum in farm tourism as many plantation owners had started letting out their farm houses to domestic tourists, following a severe drop in the number of movies shot in that location. Besides, farm tourism fetched more income in addition to their agricultural activities.
“The mere presence of a sanctuary, reservoirs, water sports and boat riding in places such as Valparai, Aliyar Dam, Top Slip, Parambikulam Tiger Reserve and Amaravathy Dam can provide the much-needed entertainment and relaxation to tourists. The Thanjavur Brihadeswara Temple will provide an altogether different experience. Apart from watching farmers working in the lush green paddy fields, tourists can also get their feet muddy there,” the official said.
source: http://www.TheHindu.com / National / by N. Anand / Chennai, May 01st, 2012