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India is a tourist’s paradise. With its diverse landscape, different cultures, multitude of languages and communities, uniqueness in food from region to region and a co-existence of several religions and beliefs, the country offers a plethora of choices for every kind of tourist. While the nature lover enjoys one of the longest coastlines and beaches, there are mountain ranges with hill resorts and wildlife sanctuaries spread across the country.

India’s ancestral history and diversified descendants have ensured the retention of palaces and forts, summer resorts and picturesque lakes and gardens to cater to not just the discerning foreign tourists but a vastly adventurous and travel pleasure seeking Indian as well.

According to Abhinav Purushottam, CEO, Vishwa Bhraman Travel Solutions Pvt. Ltd., based out of Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh (MP), “Madhya Pradesh offers several tourist-friendly destinations catering to both the cultural and religious traveller. The Madhya Pradesh Tourism department always supports any initiative by entities like ours for the promotion of their tourist wealth. Some of the major destinations we promote are Khajuraho group of monuments, Kanha, Sanchi, Amarkantak, Indore, Bhopal, Ujjain, Gwalior and Jabalpur. ITDC also promotes our tourist centres along with other national destinations. The Marble Rocks is one of the very unique tourist spots near Jabalpur.”

The main focus of companies like Vishwa Bhraman is on holiday packages. Purushottam added, “On an average, the inbound tourist traffic market will be around `400 lakhs, annually. We also provide services to outbound tourist traffic from MP to various destinations outside India.” He says that travel and tourism agencies like his offer special rates depending on the clientele and group size but railways and airlines do not provide any such concessions.

N. Ravi, a former senior official with Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation (TTDC), after his retirement runs his own online tour and travel agency, www.TourBoss.in, through which he promotes Tamil Nadu destinations on a large scale, catering to a large inbound foreign tourist community. “Tamil Nadu and our neighbouring Pondicherry have several cultural and religious centres as well as hill and beach resorts that can be judiciously combined to offer the inbound traveller a deep insight into our natural resources,” says Ravi. Every quest for the magic that is Tamil Nadu begins in Chennai, the capital of Tamil Nadu.

Wherever one goes in Chennai, one will find its history written in every name. Part of the charm of this far-spread city, still open to the skies, and in some ways, a rural town that has just expanded and expanded and it is still expanding into a great city, is the history that is so romantic. It is a green, airy city that beckons those who love the leisurely tempo of the life of a world of yesterday. It is a city of courtesy, charm and culture, where values of another day and another age are still cherished amidst the bustle of a humdrum modern city.

According to Ravi, “Tamil Nadu, the land of the Tamil, is a tranquil part of India with a rich tradition of more than 2,000 years. India’s southernmost state, Tamil Nadu is a land of world charm whose hospitality is a byword. It is also of rich variety, as much as the legacy of its great cultural heritage. Together they create a rich tapestry of rare beauty that beckons every visitor as an honoured guest.”