MAHABALIPURAM: Tourism Minister R Rajendran on Monday said that the Tamil Nadu Global Tourism Summit 2026 marked a decisive step towards positioning the State as India’s leading tourism investment destination by clearly identifying focus sectors, priority geographies and long-term infrastructure needs.
He said the MoU, signed in the presence of Chief Minister MK Stalin, covers heritage tourism, adventure tourism, MICE tourism, eco-tourism, medical tourism, coastal tourism and experiential tourism.
“The summit has resulted in Rs 22,794.78 crore worth of committed investments and nearly 66,000 assured jobs. These projects are not concentrated in one place but are spread across Tamil Nadu, covering multiple tourism segments,” the Minister told DT Next.
He added that the objective of the summit was to attract large-scale private investment into tourism infrastructure across the State and convert Tamil Nadu’s natural and cultural strengths into sustainable economic drivers. “Our ancient temples, hill regions, forests, beaches and heritage towns have immense potential. The summit was designed to bring investors, tourism operators and developers together with the government on one platform to unlock this potential,” Rajendran said.
Tamil Nadu is focusing on 12 priority tourism segments, including adventure tourism, leisure and recreational tourism, caravan tourism, rural and plantation tourism, coastal tourism, cultural and heritage tourism, medical and wellness tourism, spiritual tourism, eco-tourism, film tourism and MICE tourism. These areas are backed by the Tamil Nadu Tourism Policy 2023, which aims to ensure structured and balanced growth across regions.
Rajendran pointed to several landmark projects that are being implemented to strengthen the tourism ecosystem, including Porunai Museum and Kalaignar Centenary Jallikattu Arena, a glass bridge and 3D laser illumination at the Tiruvalluvar statue in Kanniyakumari, upgradation of basic tourist amenities at Courtallam at a cost of Rs 11.35 crore, improvement of facilities including the Pichavaram boat house at Rs 14.07 crore, new and upgraded viewing galleries at key destinations at Rs 11.46 crore, and infrastructure development at Yercaud at a cost of Rs 9.70 crore.
“Over the past five years, the State has allocated Rs 612.18 crore for tourism development,” he stated. “It resulted in 128.97 crore domestic tourist visits and around 45 lakh foreign tourist arrivals. This growth is encouraging, but it is not sufficient. We want more domestic and international tourists to choose Tamil Nadu.”
The Minister averred that all eligible tourism projects would be cleared through a single-window approval mechanism with a streamlined and time-bound process. “We’ve identified 13 categories of eligible tourism projects for incentives. Based on the scale of investment, projects will receive capital subsidies, additional investment incentives, infrastructure support and power tariff concessions,” he said.
Four special tourism destinations – Kanniyakumari, Kallakurichi, Erode and Thoothukudi – have been identified in the first phase for focused investment promotion. In the second phase, 31 locations across TN have been shortlisted for development under urban tourism, large tourism hubs and experiential tourism categories, with projects such as hotels, theme parks, camping sites and nature-based accommodation.
“These initiatives will create large-scale employment across the State. The Global Tourism Summit will play a crucial role in taking Tamil Nadu’s tourism opportunities to the national and global investment community,” the Minister added.