CHENGALPATTU: The World Tourism Day celebrations kicked off with pomp and cheer at the tourist town of Mahabalipuram on Wednesday with a lot of festivities organised by the state tourism department.

Following this, all the tourists, foreigners and locals alike were welcomed with garlands and traditional ‘Aarathi’ and were later treated to carefully curated traditional performances like karagaatam, kaavadiaatam, oyilaatam and mayilaatam.

School and college students held a rally on tourism awareness and also participated in special competitions conducted to emphasise the importance of tourism.

Chengalpattu sub-collector Lakshmipathy flagged off the rally which went through all the important areas in the town.

Meanwhile, the day was also celebrated in Kanniyakumari and Kodaikanal as the Department of Tourism organised various programmes. Kanniyakumari Collector PN Sridhar flagged off a marathon.

Subsequently, a clean-up campaign was organised at Triveni Sangamam beach. Meanwhile, the Collector appealed to the Executive Officer of Kanniyakumari Town panchayat to evict shops that were encroached on both sides of the road leading to the beach. He also sought cooperation from the tourists to keep the town clean.

According to Kodaikanal Tourism Officer D Sudha, several programmes were organised with the involvement of students. There has been a good turnout of tourists in Kodaikanal since Vinayakar Chathurthi. With Thursday being a public holiday for Milad un-Nabi followed by Gandhi Jayanti closure on October 2, expectations of more tourists visiting is high, she said.

Meanwhile, the ‘Suruli Saaral Thiruvizha’ commenced at Suruli in Uthamapalayam of Theni district on Wednesday.

The six-day festival, which is being organised in association with the Department of Tourism, was inaugurated on the occasion of Tourism Day by Collector RV Shajeevana in the presence of A Maharajan, Andipatti MLA.