BANGALORE, July 31, 2009: Several initiatives have been launched to attract tourists to Tamil Nadu including projecting destinations like Vellore with world class medical facilities as part of medical tourism, a top official of the Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation (TTDC) said today.

Tamil Nadu has become a medical hub with patients around the globe coming to places like Coimbatore, Vellore and Madurai and Chennai to avail medical facilities.
“We have established a separate medical desk along with Medi Tour India in Tamil Nadu Tourism complex for the purpose”, Dr A C Mohandoss, Director of Tourism and Managing Director, TTDC, told reporters here. 

During 2008, a total of 646.58 lakh tourists visited Tamil Nadu, of which 626.18 lakh were domestic tourists. TTDC achieved a 16 per cent growth in its turnover to Rs 69 crore in 2008-09 against 59.41 crore in 2007-08, he said.

Several capacity training schemes have been conducted for hospital staff in Chennai and most of these hospitals have been encouraged to open travel desks in their premises.  Cashing in on increasing spirit of adventure among tourists, TTDC is promoting Mudaliarkuppum on East Coast Road on the outskirts of Chennai for adventure tourism in a big way.

Besides providing water scooters, banana boat rides, kayaking at the boat house there, hot air ballooning, and bungee jumping has also been introduced, he said.