VISAKHAPATNAM: In a first-of-its-kind initiative in India, the Andhra Pradesh Tourism Authority (APTA) and ride-hailing company Rapido on Saturday launched the Driver-cum-Guide programme in Visakhapatnam to train and certify drivers as tourist guides.
The programme was launched at APTDC Yatri Nivas as part of a larger initiative to train more than 1,000 drivers across Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Tirupati. The Visakhapatnam phase will cover 350 drivers.
Under the initiative, drivers will undergo six hours of structured training in destination knowledge, service etiquette, itinerary planning and certification. Each driver will receive a bilingual English-Telugu handbook prepared by APTA, containing verified tourist destinations and curated tour circuits across Andhra Pradesh State.
Certified drivers will be onboarded onto the Rapido platform for hour-based tour bookings, including four-hour, six to eight-hour and full-day tour circuits. Officials said this is the first time in India that a ride-hailing platform has been integrated with a State tourism authority for guided tourism services.
The memorandum of understanding for the programme was signed between the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu and the founder of Rapido during the Partnership Summit held in November 2025. Officials said the initiative aims to address a long-standing gap in the tourism sector.