VIJAYAWADA: TOURISM is one of the worsthit sectors due to COVID-induced lockdown. The Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) has incurred a loss of Rs 50 crore in the past four months. However, officials concerned have utilised this time (lockdown) to train tour guides, managers and other stakeholders, APTDC CEO Pravin Kumar said. Speaking to TNIE, he said, “The officials are participating in webinars, where they have learnt how to adopt state-of-the-art technologies to increase tourist flow. Training has been imparted to the tour guides on personality development.
Many of them have taken up English-speaking courses. It would come in handy, while dealing with foreign tourists,” he explained. Kumar also said the State has informed the Union Tourism Ministry that around 30 tourist circuits were ready. “We are waiting for the ministry’s permission to open them. The Centre has asked us to come up with Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) and possible destinations to reopen. Attracting tourists won’t be a problem if a stringent SOP is in place,” the APTDC CEO opined.
At present, the department is trying to reopen domestic tourism by resuming tourism activities within the State. “Our strength is religious tourism and once we get permission from the Centre to reopen religious places, we will direct all temples to reopen for devotees as well as tourists. Similarly, we are trying to resume boating operations. The government has already set up boating command control rooms. In this regard, our focus is to attract local tourists,” he said.
However, it will take two more months to actually resume it. Meanwhile, he informed that the draft of the new tourism policy is ready. The policy could not be released due to lockdown. The focus will be on attracting private investments and promoting theme-based tourism. Buddhism is one of the primary themes. To this end, there are 14 destinations in the State and we are presently working on them,” he said.