The Department of Tourism, Government of Andhra Pradesh has planned 24 four mega events to engage tourist round the year. With the events like Araku Baloon Festival, Sounds on Sands and Social Media Award Summit etc. the state is poised to become the land of mega tourism events.
“As our Chief Minister N Chandrabadu Naidu says, we should strive to become first of the top states in terms of tourist footfalls and facilities,” says Bhuma Akhila Priya, Minister for Tourism, Govt of Andhra Pradesh. In order to achieve this we have planned 24 mega events this year. We have already completed four of these so far with the most recent Araku Baloon Festival at Araku Valley and Sounds of Sands at Visakhapatnam,” says Ms Priya. She opines that for holistic development of tourism, the government should enable the tourist to have a firsthand experience of hospitality and atmosphere that the state offers.
According to her, the maiden Araku Baloon Festival attracted around seven thousand tourist per day. Similarly the Sounds on Sands attracted 20,000 tourists per day including a large chunk of travellers from outside of the state. Social Media Award Summit concluded on 18th November at Vijayawada which was attended by Deepika Padukone attracted a huge attention. A R Rahman’s Concert at Kakinada will be organised in December this year. Also, the well known F1H2O race is scheduled to be organized in Krishna River at Vijayawada next year.
“Having experienced an overwhelming response to these events we are very confident that the state will attract a large number of domestic and foreign tourists for its mega tourism events in near future,” she added.
Furthermore, as the minister says, with the proactive policy making and promotional activities, Andhra Pradesh is enduring to project and highlight its destinations and tourism products at different forums all over the country and the world as well. “This will create a positive and inviting atmosphere for the travellers who visit our state,” says Ms Priya.
Working on those lines the state is developing sufficient infrastructure and creating more activities to engage tourist. The state is poised to set up an adventure sports Academy at Gandikota in Kadapa district and a Formula One Car Circuit in Anantapur district of the state.
Elaborating on the importance of ADTOI Convention she further said that the conference-cum-exhibition creates an opportunity for the state to leverage the potential of tourism through representative of this industry. “Our state has been at forefront in promotion of domestic tourism since its inception. Therefore, I would invite all of you to actively and aggressively promote Andhra Pradesh tourism to make it a profitable venture,” concludes Ms Priya.
