VIJAYAWADA: Even as income through hotel business declined by half in 2020-21 since a year ago, Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) continued to generate a significant amount of revenue. Officials are of the view that the APTDC hotels are doing better business than the private players.
Stating that APTDC operates 38 properties under the category of ‘hotels, resorts, wayside amenities and restaurants’ across the state, Special Chief Secretary (Tourism and Culture) Rajat Bhargava said the corporation earned Rs 63.32 crore, and a surplus of Rs 20.88 crore, through hotel operations in the financial year 2019-2020, and Rs 31.12 crore the next fiscal.
In 2020-21, the corporation started food supply to Covid-19 patients and earned Rs 29 crore from it, he said. Informing that the upgradation of hotels and restaurants is on the anvil, he said the corporation has opened 21 new bars, in addition to the existing 13, across the state.
Rajat Bhargava told TNIE that the corporation will focus more on commercial earning ventures. “Our focus is that APTDC should be able to pay dividends to the government by the end of the current fiscal (2021-22),” Rajat Bhargava said.