VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh Tourism department felicitated the tourism and hospitality fraternity for their contribution in tourism in the State. At the World Tourism Day celebrations held on the Bhavani Islands in Vijayawada on Thursday, Dr Kodela Sivaprasada Rao, AP Assembly Speaker and the chief guest of the event, said, “Tourism in Andhra Pradesh is not limited to temple tourism. We have to develop many other beautiful places like beaches, riverine hills, valleys etc. This sector provides livelihood to many people. For instance, Kottapakonda is now a place lakhs of tourists visit. The temple is getting around Rs 5 lakh to Rs10 lakh because of that.’’
Principal secretary, tourism, Mukesh Kumar Meena said, “After bifurcation, AP government faced challenges in developing the tourism sector and infrastructure, re-framing tourism policy and generating employment.”But with Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s leadership, AP received 16 crore domestic tourists between 2017 and 2018.
In 2014, the number was 9.5 crore. Similarly, in 2014, the number of foreign tourists visiting the State was around 70,000 but now it increased to 2.7 lakh. The government has increased the budget for development of infrastructure from Rs 50 crore to Rs 275 crore and has got Rs 270 crore from the central government to develop various projects.” Minister for Water Resources, Devineni Uma, Chairman, APTDC, Jayarami Reddy and District Collector, B Laxmikantam were also present at the event.