TOURISM POTENTIALS

AND ATTRACTIONS
Of Vellore & Chennai
 Tourism
According to the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO)
Tourism is defined as ;
“ The activities of the persona travelling to and staying in place
outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive
year for leisure, business and other purposes. ”

The three basic types of tourism are Domestic Tourism, Inbound

Tourism and Outbound Tourism.
 Vellore
Vellore is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located on the
banks of the Palar River in the northeastern part of Tamil Nadu. It is
considered one of South India’s oldest cities and known for its rich
historic legacy.
Vellore is well known for its Historical and pilgrimage destinations. It has
witnessed the largest number of medical tourism in India. Vellore had 2.7
milllion domestic tourists and around 60 thousand foreign tourists in the
year 2018.

Vellore is also one among the 27 cities chosen by the Government of

India in 3rd round to take part in the country's Smart Cities Mission. One of
the three aim of the Smart City proposal is to promote medical,
educational and heritage tourism in Vellore.
 MAJOR TOURIST ATTRACTIONS IN
VELLORE
The Vellore Fort

The Vellore Fort is built in the 15th Century during the reign of the
Vijayanagara empire. It has Tippu and Hyder Mahal, two separate
castles inside the fort built by Tippu Sultan and Hyder Ali.

The fort houses a temple, Mosque and a Church. The fort was
occupied by the Vijayanagara empire, The Nawabs, The Maratha
empire and the British India.
The Yelagiri hills
It is a hill station in Vellore at height of over 1100 meters above
sea level. The hill gained its popularity during the Colonial rule when
Britishers used it as a summer gateway.

It offers various activities to tourists like Paragliding, Ziplining,

Human Gyro and so on. It is has some most visited places like sweeping
orchad gardens and waterfalls.
The Vainu bappu Observatory
It is an astronomical observatory owned and operated by the
Indian Institute of Astrophysics. It is called as telescope of the City.

It has the 93 inch India’s largest optical telescope, The Vainu

Bappu telescope, J.C. Bhattacharya telescope, Carl Zeiss Telescope and
many others.

It is a best tourist spot to observe wildlife, explore telescope and

learn astronomy.
 (From Left) Punganoor Lake, Cup and Saucer Waterfalls, Golden Temple, Palamathi Hills, Jalakandeshwar
Temple, Archeological survey museum, Roman Catholic Diocess, Tippu and Hyder castle.

Apart from these Vellore has many cascades like the Cup and
Saucer Waterfalls and Kaigai falls.
It has Zoological parks, Archeological Survey Museums and
hills like Javadi hills and Palamathi hills.
It has a lot of fame for ancient temples like the
Jalakandeshwar Temple built in 1550 CE, Golden Temple, Roman
Catholic Diocess and so on.
 Chennai
Chennai is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is
the second oldest city in the world after London. It was listed one of
the top ten cities in the world to visit by Tourism-guide publisher in
2015 .

It is among the most visited Indian cities by foreign tourists

overtaking New Delhi and Mumbai Since 2010 to 2012, ranking 43rd
most visited city in the world in 2015 and 36th most visited city in
2019.

It attracts 45% of health tourists and it is termed as ‘India’s

Health Capital’. It has witnessed 38.59 crore domestic tourists and
6.73 million foreign visitors in the year 2018.
 Major Tourist attractions in Chennai
Marina Beach

Marina beach is a natural urban beach with a distance of 6 km,

making it the longest natural urban beach in India and second longest
in the World.

It is one of the most crowded beaches in the country and attracts

about 50000 visitors a day. The Madras lighthouse is a lighthouse facing
Bay of Bengal and a famous landmark on Marina Beach as it is one of
the few lighthouse with elevators.
 Guindy National Park
The Guindy National Park is 8th smallest national park. It extends
to governor’s official estate and deep inside forests, scrub lands, lakes
and streams.

It is a home to 400 black bucks, 2000 spotted deers, 24 jackals,

snakes, 130 species of birds, 14 species of mammals, and many other
invertebrates. It attracts around 7 lakhs visitors each year.
 Vedanthangal Bird Sanctuary
It is the oldest water bird sanctuary in the country. It is a home to
40 thousand birds including 26 rare species like pintail, garganey and
grey wagtail from all around the world.

This region attracts variety of migratory birds due to many lakes

that act as feeding grounds. Hence, British government undertook
steps to develop it as a bird sanctuary in 1798.
 Vandalur Zoological park
Arignar Anna Zoological Park is a zoological garden. It is the first
public zoo in India and largest zoological park in India.

It houses 2553 species of flora and fauna across 1265 acres

including 46 endangered species. It also has a forest museum.

There were around 2.03 million visitors during the fiscal year
2018-19 with a revenue of 12.64 crores. The zoo also has live streaming
of all animals and birds in the zoo.
 Mahabalipuram
Mahabalipuram also known as Mamallapuram is a UNESCO
World Heritage Site of 7th and 8th century monuments. It was one of
two major port cities and royal monuments of Pallava kingdom.

The site has 40 ancient monuments and temples including largest

open air-rock reliefs in the world – the Descent of the Ganges.

There were about 10.7 million tourists during the fiscal year
2018-19.
 Government Museum Complex
The Government museum complex is on Pantheon Road, Egmore which
houses Connemara Library, Madras Museum and National Art Gallery.
The Connemara Library is one of the four National Depository Libraries
established in 1896 with respected works and collections. It also serves as
depository library for United Nations.
Madras Museum, museum of human history and culture is the second oldest
museum in India with largest collection of Roman antiquities outside Europe
with around 6 lakhs visitors in 2018.
The National Art Gallery, oldest art galleries in India was built during the
celebration of Queen Victoria’s Golden Jubilee. It also has been identified as a
Heritage site by CMDA.
 (From left) Ripon Building, Santhome Cathedral Basilica, Dakshinachitra, Victoria Public hall, Fort St. George,
Vivekananda house, MGR Memorial, Crocodile Trust, Mylapore.

Chennai has an influence of many architectural styles. From ancient Pallavas,

Indo-Saracenic style, British, Portugese and Armenian Architectures like The Senate
House, Art Deco Buildings, Citi Centre Mall, LIC building ( The first skyscraper of
Chennai), Central Station, Valluvar Kottam and so on which attracts large amount of
tourists to Tamil Nadu.
 Tourism Potentials
of Vellore & Chennai

Vellore and Chennai are cities with rich heritage and culture. There are
underrated places like Caves of Little Mount which are well preserved and
used by locals.
Demonte Colony is considered one of the most haunted places in Chennai
with many local visitors. Lack of ample marketing has made it underrated.
Broken Bridge in Adyar is the place where Adyar River estuary joins Bay of
Bengal. The Scenic views has inspired a lot of movie makers.
The Huddleston gardens of Theosophical Society is a peaceful place to
visit. It is an institution created to bring people close irrespective of
differences.
There are many places like Our Lady of Lourdes, Besant Nagar and Film city
and Hidden Lake and Artist Village which would again become a major
tourist spot after renovations.
 Area of Concern
For two straight years Tamil Nadu saw the most tourist arrivals despite
having the lowest expenditures on Tourism. Chennai and Vellore are
among the most visited destinations Tamil Nadu. Increasing the
expenditure on Tourism and advertising all its historical sites besides
modern destinations would attract a lot of domestic and foreign
tourists undoubtedly.
There are ancient architectures like the National art gallery remaining
closed since long back due to damage. Renovations on ancient
architectures and continuous functioning would invite tourists.
 Conclusion
Tourism is a productive sector which can uplift the revenue of the
Government to a great extend. Ample share of its expenditure on
advertising the scenic beauty would attract tourists internationally. It is
quite important to Renovate and preserve historical sites to maintain
rich heritage.
 References
www.thrillophillia.com
www.Wikipedia.org
www.tamilnadutourism.org
www.tourmyindia.com
www.holidify.com