VIJAYAWADA: With an objective to give a boost to community-based tourism in Amaravati, the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority (APCRDA) has decided to prepare an exclusive tourism master plan.Community-based tourism is a concept in which local residents invite tourists to visit their communities and provide them with overnight accommodation. The APCRDA officials said that the plan, which will be Amaravati-centric, will also focus on preparing feasible tourism projects -- both state-funded and public private partnership (PPP) -- that could be taken up in the capital region.
“The master plan will be drafted with the aim to promote community-based tourism. It will, however, focus equally on conservation of natural resources and their wise use. It will also prepare guidelines to plug gaps in public infrastructure,” an official from the authority explained.
The master plan is expected to be ready in three-four months.The official further said that community-based tourism will be a sustainable tool for improving the standard of living of the local communities.“This will be a unique tourism model. Besides this, the master plan will also have plans to develop projects in other models such as eco tourism, adventure tourism, sports tourism, educational tourism, pilgrimage/religious tourism, cultural/heritage tourism, wildlife tourism, leisure tourism and Meetings, Incentives, Conferencing and Exhibitions (MICE) tourism,” he said.
The authority has already called for a Letter of Invitation to identify the consultant for preparing the master plan.The APCRDA, which has called for tenders for a slew of tourism projects under the public private partnership model, also hopes that the master plan would give a push to the projects which have been receiving lukewarm response from the investors for some time now.“Along with the guidelines, the master plan will make financial projections for the projects, expected footfalls and other parameters over a 10-year-horizon,” he said. It will be a one-stop shop for all tourism development, the official concluded.