The State Government will abide by this year’s theme of ‘Tourism and Green Investment’ while grooming Andhra Pradesh into a major tourist destination, said Minister for Tourism, Culture and Youth Advancement R.K. Roja.
The Minister was addressing an event organised to coincide with World Tourism Day-2023, at Tummalapalli Kalakshetram in Vijayawada on September 27 (Wednesday).
“The fact that Lepakshi village had bagged the ‘Best Rural Tourism Village of India’ award for 2023 is a matter of great pride for Andhra Pradesh. The State project made a mark among the 795 applications received from 31 States/Union Territories across the country by the Union Ministry of Tourism,” she pointed out.
Stating that the tourism sector would grow leaps and bounds under the leadership of Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, Ms. Roja said that the Oberoi Group had laid the foundation stone for development of seven-star hotels at Gandikota, Tirupati and Visakhapatnam, while the Mayfair Group had plans to develop a 5-star hotel at Annavaram near Visakhapatnam.
Yet another project, Hotel Hyatt would be developed by the MRKR Group at Tirupati, she said, adding that these hospitality projects would boost tourism in the State.
Reminding that the Global Investors Summit (GIS) 2023 held at Visakhapatnam in March this year had resulted in signing of MoUs worth over ₹19,000 crore which could create over 51,000 jobs in the tourism sector, she said efforts were on to implement these projects at the earliest.
As many as 288 potential beach cites had been identified along the 974-km coastline from Donkuru in Srikakulam district to Nawabpeta in Tirupati district, and the objective was to develop infrastructure in Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode, she said.
Chief Executive Officer of Andhra Pradesh Tourism Authority and Managing Director of A.P. Tourism Development Corporation K. Kanna Babu spoke about the significance of the Tourism Day celebrations. “Tourism is one of the key economic growth engines and generates a lot of employment opportunities. In 2022, the travel and tourism sector has contributed 7.6% of the global Gross Domestic Product (GDP),” he said.
Later, the Minister presented awards to representatives of various sectors that are part of the hospitality sector.
