Andhra Pradesh eyeing more tourist inflows

Vijayawada: It is high time that more and more tourists are attracted to the state by improving the facilities and make them taste the authentic cuisines of Andhra Pradesh food, said Himanshu Shukla, CEO of AP Tourism Authority (APTA) and Managing Director Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation while inaugurating the fortnight-long Andhra Food Festival at DV Manor Hotel here on Saturday.

He said that last year 16 crore tourists visited the State and more tourists would visit this year due to the improved facilities. Generally, tourists spend Rs 3,000 per day including Rs 600 on food, he said and added that if we could make him spend two more hundred on food offering him authentic Andhra food, the exchequer would be enriched by Rs 160 crore per annum. 

He thanked the management of DV Manor Hotel for organising the food festival with the cooperation of Tourism Development Authority, According to the CEO of Tourism Development Authority, three more hotels, including one at Tirupati, are also organising similar food festival in AP. “The Food festivals would be conducted once in a month at four different places in the State,” he added. Ella, Florence, Linde and Charlotte, the Belgian women, who attended the Food festival, said that they were overwhelmed by the taste of Andhra food delicacies.