Waving in traffic from the web, the Tourist Board will try to lure elusive travelers from the US, Canada and Australia, with a portal for online transactions.
The three markets together account for just over 40,000 tourists of the half a million that visited the country last year, with no focused promotions in these areas since the 1970s.
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rnldblquote We dont have offices in these countries and due to a lack of accessibility, promotions did not seem to work dblquote , Director General of the Tourist Board, S. Kalaiselvam said.rn
rnldblquote Numbers are increasing now, especially from Australia that saw about 20,000 visitors last year due to peace opening up in areas like the East coast dblquote .rn
rnIn 2003, the three markets together accounted for 44,904 travelers to the country, up from about 31,000 in the previous year. rn
rnThe new web portal, launched Tuesday, with its dynamic, interactive content is expected to appeal to the Free and Independent traveler demanding more information.rn