Tag Archives: Government of Andhra Pradesh

Government of Andhra Pradesh has issued a Restart Package to support the tourism sector in the state. The approved package of Rs198.50 crore is a loan for hotels, M!CE, function halls, restaurants and service providers by extending interest subsidy at 50% of the interest on the loan for 12 months subject to a maximum of 4.50% of the loan amount for one year.

Amaravati, the capital of Andhra Pradesh, is set to host the fifth round of F1H2O World Championship from November 16-18. Hosted by Andhra Pradesh Tourism Authority, the event is believed to position Amaravati on the world map. Mukesh Kumar Meena, Secretary, Tourism & Culture, Government of Andhra Pradesh, along with Marco Pietrini, Director of Logistics, F1H2O and Sandeep Mandava, CEO, India Xtreme Adventure Activities, organised a press conference in New Delhi, to share updates about the event. Speaking at the conference, Meena revealed, “The F1H2O World Championship is going to be held in India for the second time after 14 years. With a global event like this, Amaravati will be recognised world over. In fact, there will also be a Team Amaravati with two key race drivers from Sweden—Jonas Anderson and Erk Edwin, who have been participating in all the legs of the race. In Amaravati, the race will be held in River Krishna and all the logistics and arrangements will be of international standards.”

The Confederation of Indian industry in Andhra Pradesh in association with Andhra Pradesh Tourism, Government of Andhra Pradesh, recently organised a conference on ‘Destination Vizag: A Hidden Paradise of the East’ in Vishakhapatnam to promote the destination. About 25 representatives of various destination management companies attended the conference and were later taken on a tour to Thotlakonda Buddhist circuit, Bheemli Beach and Kailash Giri as well as an eco tourism tour to Araku Valley hill station in Visakhapatnam district. While addressing the conference Pravin Kumar, IAS Collector Vizag said that most of the tourist attractions in Visakhapatnam are unexplored, and mentioned that through promotional initiatives and marketing the city could emerge as major tourist destination. Visakhapatnam’s hilly region and tribal lives could be attractions for foreign tourists. Sreekanth Nagulapalli, IAS, Secretary, Tourism, Go AP shared tourist attractions in Andhra Pradesh and Government’s tourism policy to promote infrastructure in tourism sector. He also shared proposed initiatives to promote Vishakhapatnam as destination of hills and beaches. Dr Subhash Goyal, Chairman, STIC group said that Vishakhapatnam needs to be marketed well. He suggested to form a joint working group to initiate the discussion Andhra Tourism Mart. He also suggested various policy initiatives to the state government which could increase tourist arrivals into the state. Chetan Gupta, General Secretary, ADTOI suggested for more air connectivity, a need for Tourism Information Offices in the micro cities and need for developing package tours.

Yatra.com has forged a strategic alliance with the Government of Andhra Pradesh to promote homestays and enhance tourism in the state through their holiday packages. As a part of this partnership, Yatra will list over 200 properties on its website and encourage the growth of homestays in Andhra Pradesh. The MoU was signed during the Partnership Summit at Vishakhapatnam in presence of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu. Through the partnership, Yatra will promote all the state tourism approved homestays, wherein guests can rent a room in the home of a local family (host) or the entire house. This partnership will give the tourists a chance to experience the hospitality of various families throughout Andhra Pradesh and enjoy wonderful home cooked food. Speaking on the partnership, Sharat Dhall, COO (B2C), Yatra.com said, “Homestays as a trend is rapidly gaining popularity in India. As new age travellers seek out unique experiences in the course of their travels, we believe that this kind of non-hotel accommodation has tremendous growth potential in the country. Also, the partnership with Andhra Pradesh Government will provide an alternate source of income for the local population and enhance their livelihoods without straining their existing resources, thereby creating sustainable livelihood and creating large scale employment.”

O2 Spa has announced it has signed an MoU with the Government of Andhra Pradesh that will see an investment of $1.75 million for a period of three years starting from October 2017. This investment is aimed at setting up of O2 Spa facilities across Andhra Pradesh wherein youth from the state will be trained and absorbed thus creating employment opportunities. This agreement was signed between O2 Spa and Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation at the Second Sunrise Andhra Pradesh Investment Meet that was held in Vizag. Girija Shankar, Managing Director of APTDC, was representing the Government. Ritesh Mastipuram, Founder and Managing Director, O2 Spa said, ”We will set up facilities across cities like Amravati, Vijaywada, Vizag to name a few within the next 3 years. The training aspects for the youths will be undertaken by O2 Skills Academy, an initiative of O2 Spa, primarily conceptualised to help meet the shortage of quality and skilled manpower in the spa and hospitality industry This collaboration will aim to provide employment linked, market oriented vocational training that will enable filling in the gaps.” O2 Spa is investing $15 million in expanding its operations in the country and aboard. The company will grow from its current base of 82 outlets in 18 cities to 150 outlets across 30 cities by FY 2016-2017. The expansion plans include addition of about 30 outlets in Tier I and 60 outlets in Tier II cities in India and more than 10 outlets abroad.