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NT Bureau
Chennai, Jan 28:

        State Tourism Minister Sureshrajan will inaugurate a two-day 'tea and tourism festival, 2007' at the open air stadium near the government botanical gardens on 3 February.

        Various associations like the Nilgiri Hotellers and Restaurant Owners Association, Tea Board, Tamilnadu Tea Plantation Corporation, The Industrial Co-operative Tea Factories, United Planters Association of South India and the small tea Growers Association will participate in the conference, an official press release said.

        The theme of the festival - 'Romance with tea' would be given wide publicity through posters, stickers and logos. Tea stalls would be set up where tourists can taste and buy different flavours of Nilgiri tea. One lakh Nilgiri tea sachets would be distributed free of cost to tourists.

        Besides entertainment and cultural programmes, tourists could travel in open air buses to various tourist spots. Special trains would run from Udhagamandalam to Runneymade station near Coonoor. During the journey, the tribal people of Nilgiris (Badagas, Todas) in their traditional attire would serve tea to the tourists, the release added.