Emerging issues in tourism: Chennai, South India

✅ Paper Type: Free Essay	✅ Subject: Tourism
✅ Wordcount: 3948 words	✅ Published: 10th Apr 2017

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Contents

Introduction of destination

Tourist attractions

History

Lifestyle

Beliefs and traditions

Urban and cultural tourism

Conclusion and Recommendations

Bibliography

Introduction of destination

Chennai, formerly known as Madras, is the heart of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, often referred to as the ‘Gateway to South India,’ it can be found on the south-eastern coast of India. With its strong transport and commerce links both nationally and internationally it has rightfully earned its status as the fourth largest metropolitan city in the country. It is a bustling city of 178-sq-km packed with diversity at every street corner. It boasts of not only a rich cultural and religious heritage, but also a historical one, where the mark of the British Rule is evident in the various recommended tourist destinations. Its population of a staggering 6.4million consists of citizens from the 7 different religious backgrounds, these not only include the 6 major religions, but also the rather surprising one known as Parsis. Additionally, the 4 languages of English, Hindi, Urdu and Malayalam are widely spoken across the city.

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Tourist attractions

Chennai being the spiritual hub and the keeper of South Indian artistic religious traditions has many awe striking sites to visit, alongside the more modern cosmopolitan developments of luxurious hotels, swanky bars, boutiques, clubs and restaurants.

Marina Beach spanning a distance of 8.1 miles is the longest natural urban beach of the country and one of the most beautiful and second longest in the world.

Fort St.George is possibly the most important landmark in Chennai’s history. It was built in 1644, by Francis Day and Andrew Cogan, the founders of Chennai and the officials of the British East India Company. It was the first place of British settlement and was also under French occupation for a short period of time.

The Fort Museum, which was formerly opened in 1948, is the place where tourists will find fine collections of various artefacts from the colonial period of the country. The impressive collection includes medieval weapons, coins, original writings, and much more.

Gandhi Mandapam spanning over 16 acres is the home of 10 memorials including those for Mahatma Gandhi, is a great attraction where visitors can see the beautiful carvings on the historical buildings and be a part of various festivals including Gandhi Jayanti. Between 9-10am every Sunday devotees of Shri Aurobindo gather to pray and meditate.

There are a large number of temples, churches and mosques that hold great historical significance. These include Kapaleeshwarar Temple, Meenakshi Amman Temple, The Shore Temple, St Andrew’s Church, San Thome Cathedral, Luz Church, The Wallajah (Big) Mosque, and The Thousand Lights Mosque, to name just a few.

The War Memorial of Chennai offers a glance into the heroic past of India.

These are just a few of the renowned places to visit for an individual looking to immerse and enrich themselves with the cultural legacy of Chennai.

History

Chennai is said to be around 400 years old being the location of the East India Company’s first settlement – said to be officially founded in 1639. However “The Kapaleeshwarar temple, the Pallava Port and the Parthasarathi Temple of the 7th century are the effervescent facts to prove that the Chennai city has been present since the time immemorial” (Chennai.org, History of Chennai, Para 1). History accounts that the city was ruled by “well-known dynasties of South India, such as the Pallavas, the Cholas, the Pandyas and the Vijaynagar kingdom.” (Chennai.org, History of Chennai, Para 1.) In 1522 Sao Tome port was built by the Portuguese. The Christian apostle St. Thomas also settled into the city and the positive impact of this is perhaps seen within the Christian community of modern day Chennai. The bustling city of Chennai that we see today is due to the influence of two merchants of the East India Company, Francis Day and Andrew Cogan, who set up the factory. In the 17^th century Chennai was known by the name of Tondaimandalm, and a small village called Puzahl used to be where the military had their headquarters. The British held a strong position of power by mid-18^th Century; this then led to the creation of Madras Presidency. The beginning of the industrial revolution in Britain ensured that Tamil Nadu also reaped the benefits; railways in the late 19^th century allowed Tamil Nadu was able to establish strong networks with many important states and their capitals; this helped the growth of communication and business, thus leading to economic benefits. Chennai did not become the capital of Madras State until after it had attained independence from the colonial rule in 1947, it was then renamed Tamil Nadu. The city underwent another renaming ceremony in 1996 when the state government took the decision to change the city’s name from Madras to Chennai. The changes that Chennai underwent over the various centuries, socially, culturally, economically, and historically, is what makes Chennai one of the most unique, interesting and multi-faceted cities of India, giving it a unique selling point for the tourist industry to tap into and maximise the number of tourist visitors from all over the world.

Lifestyle

It is widely known that the people of Chennai live a simple and humble life, which is often said to be steeped in religious practices, superstitions and delicious traditional food. The people of Chennai are mostly described as being friendly, accepting of new people and extremely cultured and religious. It would not be a surprise to the eyes to find groups of people by the beaches at sunrise carrying out the ‘Suryanamaskar’ (Sun salutation). Religious festivals are celebrated with great pomp, filled with colour and vibrancy usually including everyone, not only from one street but neighbouring streets. The cost of living in Chennai is known to be amongst the lowest in the country, which allows for more economic comforts within a family household. Traditional arts including Carnatic music and Bharatanatyam are at the heart of the Tamil culture, and it wouldn’t be uncommon for at least one family member to play an instrument or be well versed in Sanskrit or enjoy a Saturday morning class in Bharatanatyam dance. Education is given the utmost value in a household as it is seen to carry the key to opening doors to a brighter future. This bustling city is the home to the biggest motor industry in India, with streets jammed with traffic and the Sea ports seeing daily imports and exports, seems to be the least likely place in which one could relax and unwind, but the Chennai lifestyle has ancient meditation engraved at its core, which could be the very reason why the Chennaiites are so chilled out and humble people.

Beliefs and traditions

Chennaiites are traditional minded people, who value their culture immensely and on a daily basis follow age old rituals with full faith and dedication. The women of the household traditionally carry out the early morning ‘kolam’, which is the drawing of patterns and waves on the entrance of the home. This is traditionally made of rice powder and said to welcome the auspicious into the home. Chennai celebrated many festivals both local and national. A couple of these are:

Pongal:- This festival is celebrated in January for three days. It is the harvest festival of showing gratitude and offering thanks to Sun, Earth and the Cow. On this auspicious day families at dawn in their respective homes gather around a new earthen pot. As the pot of milk boils over, signifying prosperity, a shout of ‘Pongalo Pongal’ reverberates in the air.

Arubathimoovar Festival: – Literally, ‘Arubathimoovar’ refers to the 63 saints of Shiva idolized for leading exemplary lives of devotion and penance. Every year the bronze figures of these 63 saints are carried in a colourful procession through the streets of Mylapore.

Urban and cultural tourism

“Today’s travel and tourism industry has grown into a global economic powerhouse whose combined direct and indirect impact on the world economy, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), in 2012 was US$1.2 trillion; 260 million jobs; US$70 billion in investment and US$1.2 trillion in exports.” (Fuller, 2013)Over the next 10 years travel and tourism industry has been predicted to grow by 4.4% on average each year. These figures exceed the growth of any other sector and other industries like retail and public services. A number of factors are fuelling this growth, and the demand for the travel and tourism destinations is growing. Sociologist highlight that the biggest factor is said to be the growing middle class across the globe, especially in countries like Russia, India and Brazil. It has been predicted that over the next 1-2 decades this middle class band will continue to increase, which in turn will increase the number of people wishing to travel around the globe. There are several countries which are popular tourist destinations, these being France and USA, with India not far behind as the 11^th fastest emerging destination worldwide, with a 6.4% growth predicted between the years 2014-2024. The modern world is seeing a boom in the travel and tourism industry like never before; in 2013 the online travel bookings revenue worldwide had raked in $34bn. The Global international tourism revenue stood at a whopping $1,159bn. Global hotel industry totalled at $457bn.

Cultural tourism has been defined as the “subset oftourismconcerned with a country or region’sculture, specifically the lifestyle of the people in those geographical areas, the history of those people, their art, architecture, religion(s), and other elements that helped shape their way of life.”(Wikipedia 2015, Para1.) Its focus is to allow the tourists to gain a realistic experience of the destination’s cultural heritage, along with the other attributes mentioned in the quote, whereas urban tourism looks solely towards marketing the history and the landmark of the city to increase business. Research reveals that cultural tourism is somewhat in its infant stage, where many countries have been working hard to nurture it and market it on a global platform, as they have realised the revenue it provides for their cities, on the other hand urban tourism is somewhat in its mature stage of development. However, the increase in global capitalism and consumer awareness alongside the development of modern technology has allowed it to be bought into the limelight and government alongside sociologists are conducting deeper research into trends and gathering statistical data, to utilise for domestic fiscal gain.

Where the development of such tourism is beneficial there are some practical issues that can hinder the development of urban and cultural tourism. These are the planning process for the infrastructure and the government’s approach to this. The various people and the roles they will play on a governmental level. Then there is the organisation of the relationship between public transport and the travel industry. Furthermore what may seem like a menial, job of signage in and around the city, is a vital element for the satisfaction and ease of a visitor. It is important to know and further analyse the behaviours of the tourists and what destinations would be more economically viable to invest in and maintain. There could be obstructions with traditional values and corporate cut throat approaches when it comes to making a cultural heritage landmark a tourist attraction.

Many countries are employing various strategies to ensure that they continue to be innovative and gain the benefits from the industry. Cities are evaluating the access to the destinations and attractions. They are creating marketing strategies to ensure maximum exposure to the public, and furthermore analysing the cultural barriers that may exist for tourists to visit certain destinations. To ensure that there are no oppositions from the locals, governments are also looking into the economic benefits the communities can also gain from such developments, thus making it an attractive proposition. Chennai is no exception from such investments and strategic planning. It is important to note the advantages and disadvantages to the growth of urban and cultural tourism within a city.

Table 1: Merits and Demerits

Advantages	Disadvantages
Contribution to GDP	Controlled by elite
Employment	Marginal employment
Cultural preservation	Cultural destruction-over commercialisation
Environmental protection	Environmental destruction
Foreign exchange	Illegal and/destructive economic activities.

SWOT analysis

Carrying out a SWOT analysis would be beneficial and most suitable, in order to distinguish the key values and impacts of tourism in Chennai.

Strengths

Chennai has many strong attributes which make an attractive tourist destination. The city and its people pride themselves in the retention of strong cultural and religious heritage, which allows tourists to gain an authentic experience. Bhartnatyam and Carnatic music are two of the cultural legacies, which can be enjoyed at the many concerts available by renowned artists. Chennai has been able to balance the modern western influences well with its traditional values and beliefs. Whilst keeping up with the modern world. Visitors can find many tourist attractions and beaches, which can be enjoyed in the hot weather that Chennai sees all year round. A varied cuisine, due to the mix of cultures again allows the visitors to have a choice whilst retaining authenticity. The Automobile industry is very attractive for those wishing to settle there as there are plenty of job opportunities. There is a steady stream of revenue for the city enabling economic stability allowing for standard of living to be maintained. Domestic tourism is strong and on the increase. Chennai has a strong transport network utilising all three modes rail, sea, and air. With strong links both nationally and internationally.

Weaknesses

Despite many positives Chennai has two core areas it needs to invest in as this could have a grave impact on the attraction and retention of the number of tourists visiting. One being safety; it is a real issue within the city as many tourists do not feel safe on the public transport, especially females. Additionally, the government must make investment in the maintenance of sewerage and drainage seriously- this poses a critical problem as it can easily make a tourist destination unattractive, thus lose tourists and damage the economic benefits.

Opportunities

There is still scope for improvement and growth in Chennai and this could be done with strategic marketing within the tourist industry. These could include catered holiday packages with specific design, these could include: pilgrimages, cultural site tours, spiritual breaks with particular focus on meditation and yoga, education perhaps in the arts, water sports at the beaches and lastly there is a strong scope for medical tourism, which is one the rise globally.

Threats

The biggest threat Chennai faces are the growing number of slums. There is a lack of investment in infrastructure and maintenance of heritage places, which would not make the destinations attractive. Traffic air pollution, filth leading to health issues taking away the beauty of attractions and beaches. The use of cameras prohibited in various attractions, as it is considered an act of sacrilege, can put tourists off. There is a gap in investment in the development of roads to the more rural areas, which could be a source of revenue. Low standard of local transport and pickpockets also pose a threat to Chennai being an attractive destination.

Conclusion and Recommendations

Chennai is one of the most beautiful cities in the South with a great deal to offer. It has a range of tourist attractions. It is vibrant and colourful; jam packed with authentic cultural and traditional values and rituals which are still upheld by the locals of the city. Chennai has come a long way from where it was 5 years ago within the tourist industry. There were clear shortcomings, where information of tourist attractions was not strategically marketed and the resources and natural landmarks were not used to the full capacity to benefit not only the industry, city, but also the local people.

For Chennai to ensure that it reaps the rewards of the rapidly growing global tourist industry it may be in their best interest to make some enhancements and fundamental changes. The government needs to commit to cleaning the city up, in terms of sewage and drainage, but also the investment is needed to solve the ever growing slums in the city. Security to be enhanced by providing tourist only buses for those travelling in groups. The government needs to make if economically beneficial for the city to continue to retain its cultural heritage and not lose this for commercial commodity. Lastly in order to allow the tourists to experience the real Chennai steeped in history, culture and traditional values they must continue to invest in the renovation and preservation of the heritage and tourist sites, to ensure the attainment of benefits for the long term.

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