Cruise tourism to be given top priority: Kishan Reddy
Union Minister for Tourism and Culture G Kishan Reddy speaking to the media in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday
Visakhapatnam: Union Minister for Tourism and Culture G Kishan Reddy said the development of cruise tourism would be given top priority.
Speaking to the media in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday, he said the Centre would extend all its support to tourism development in the State.
He said the authorities have set a timeline of completing the cruise terminal work at Visakhapatnam Port Trust taken up at a cost of about Rs100 crore by the end of the next year. The terminal can handle two thousand passengers at a time, the Union Minister mentioned.
Kishan Reddy informed that cruise tourism is one of the fastest growing sectors in the world and that the authorities were directed to develop the same in coordination among the ports.
The Union Minister said a new tourism policy will be made available soon.
Speaking about Visakhapatnam, Kishan Reddy said the place has a huge tourism potential to tap as it has many tourist attractions. He assured to bring a train equipped with only Vistadome coaches to Visakhapatnam.
Kishan Reddy stated that Alluri Sitarama Raju's 125th birth anniversary celebrations would be held in a grand manner next year and steps would be taken to hold the celebrations in Delhi as well. He directed the authorities concerned to complete the Alluri's Museum in Chintapalli by then.
The Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation (PRASAD) scheme funds were released for the development works at Simhachalam temple. Also, funds would be released for the development of the Annavaram Devasthanam, he added.
The Union Minister assured to give priority for the recognition of monuments in the State. Further, he mentioned that young entrepreneurs will be given priority and steps would be taken to develop every small destination as a tourist spot. He urged the denizens to promote their city tourism widely through social media.
Speaking on the occasion, State Tourism Minister M Srinivasa Rao said he appealed to the Union Minister to sanction funds for the existing projects and grant permission for new projects.