Puducherry to add more facilities to attract tourists

Amusement parks, water sports, sea cruise from Chennai and casinos are some of the facilities that the Puducherry government is planning to offer, in order to attract more tourists to the Union Territory.

Puducherry, with its scenic beaches and world-class resorts, attracts more than a million domestic tourists every year and the number has increased manifold in the past couple of years.

With tourists’ inflow touching 15 lakhs in 2017, the Puducherry administration is planning to upgrade the existing infrastructure and create new ones with twin goals - to attract more travellers and generate revenue from it. The government thinks by allowing private players to construct water theme parks and amusement parks it can attract more number of tourists by providing them with a variety of options to spend their holidays.

“Tourism is our major source of income and we would like to concentrate on this sector to generate more money. We plan to have amusement parks, more options for entertainment, water sports and casinos as well. With amusement parks and water sports, we are hopeful of attracting more tourists that will augur well for the UT’s finances,” Chief Minister V Narayanaswamy told DH.

The administration is also planning to allow private companies to launch sea cruise from Chennai to Puducherry and the government has begun talks with few firms which have evinced interest. “We will launch the sea cruise after obtaining necessary permission from the Centre and will give due consideration to the safety and security concerns. Once we get the go-ahead, the sea cruise can be launched from Chennai,” he said. Two shipping firms from Dubai have evinced interest in launching the cruise.

Several firms from Singapore and Malaysia have come forward to set up amusement and water theme parks in Puducherry. “Initial talks with these companies are on. These firms are very much interested in investing in Puducherry since it is a major tourist destination in the country,” Narayanaswamy said.

Though the Puducherry administration has plans to allow casinos, it will be the last priority since the government does not want the locals to use it. “We will seek permission from the Union government for setting up casinos and we will have to make sure that it will be used only by outsiders,” he said.