AP State has great tourism appeal, says Kodela

Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh Assembly Speaker Kodela Siva Prasad on Thursday said that the Andhra Pradesh State is endowed with a rich cultural and tourism heritage and has many a scenic place to boast of. It shall harness its potential fully, which will not only lead to development of the region but also help generate jobs for the youth. 

The Speaker was participating in the World Tourism Day celebrations at Bhavani Island here on Friday. He inaugurated a children play zone on the occasion.  Addressing a meeting, he called upon officials and various organisations to turn spotlight on tourism landscape of the State. Citing an example of Kotappakonda temple development, he noted that it has been aptly developed as an eco-tourism place.

Lakhs of tourists are visiting the place from afar, with the result that temple income touched about Rs 10 lakh annually.  Tourism Department secretary Mukesh Kumar Meena explained that the State faced many challenges after the bifurcation. The government reframed the tourism policy and developed various places and succeeded in providing employment opportunities.

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu was actively taking keen interest and helping tourism thrive in the state in line with the policy for the next five years.  All the government efforts were fruitful, and Andhra Pradesh stood number three among top tourist destination states in the country.

AP Tourism registered 16 crore domestic tourist arrivals, which were only 9.5 crore in 2014. In respect of foreign tourist arrivals, their shot up from 70,000 to 2.7 lakh during the last four years.  

The State government also enhanced outlay for the tourism department from Rs 50 crore to Rs 275 crore. It envisaged attracting private investments to the tune of Rs 44,000 crore. The department was aiming to construct one lakh hotel rooms, Meena informed.

Devineni Uma Maheswar Rao, the Minister for Water Resources, Gadde Anuradha, the ZP chairperson, Jayarami Reddy, the chairman of AP Tourism Development Corporation, and District Collector Laxmikantam were present.