AP Set To Launch Travel Mart To Promote Brand Andhra
The policy offers a slew of incentives like concessional power tariff and property tax to promote temple, wellness, adventure
Andhra Pradesh Special Chief Secretary, Tourism Ajay Jain inaugurating a roadshow in Raipur to promote tourism in AP
Visakhapatnam: Andhra Pradesh Government has decided to launch its own travel mart--a market place for travel industry to facilitate B2B meetings and networking, according to Ajay Jain, Special Chief Secretary, Tourism.
He was speaking at the second roadshow organised by the AP Tourism Department and AP Tourism Forum (APTF) in Raipur, the capital of Chhattisgarh on Saturday evening. The first roadshow was held in Bhubaneswar the previous day in which Odisha Governor Dr KHaribabu attended as the chief guest. Both the roadshows were organised as part of the decision in the AP Tourism Policy 2024-29 to transform AP into a prominent tourism hub through aggressive marketing to promote Brand Andhra Pradesh.
The policy aims to attract an investment of Rs25,000 crore under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) route. The government also recently released the land allotment policy for various investors in the tourism sector after according industry status to it.
The policy offers a slew of incentives like concessional power tariff and property tax to promote temple, wellness, adventure, eco, village, rural and beach tourism.It envisages developing 10 temple circuits and two cruise circuits, five beach circuits in Visakhapatnam, Kakinada, Nellore, Srikakulam and Machilipatnam besides establishing Buddhist circuits between Nagarjunakonda-Amaravati and Visakhapatnam-Thotlakonda.
The two roadshows held in Raipur and Bhubaneswar evoked a good response among the hoteliers and other stakeholders, APTF secretary MV Pavan Kartheek, told Bizz Buzz on Sunday.
Besides Ajay Jain, the Raipur roadshow was attended by Vivek Acharya, Managing Director ,Chhattisgarh Tourism Board. Jain speaking at the roadshow announced that AP Tourism will soon be doing their travel mart and also presented a comprehensive plan promotion. He spoke on efforts for destination development with theme-based hubs, niche hubs, anchor hubs, circuit models, hop-on-hop-off bus services and MICE tourism.
The event saw participation from 20 leading hotels from AP and over 50 travel partners from Raipur in the first-ever B2B meetings and networking sessions.
Pavan Kartheek presided, while K. Vijay Mohan, APTF president spoke about how both the States have to work on Buddhist and tribal itineraries. APTF joint secretary Jaideep Biswas proposed a vote of thanks.
APTF members also felicitated Ajay Jain, Vivek Acharya, Kapil Jai, president, Chattisgarh Travel Trade Association (CGTTA) and association members Ritesh Mundra and.Jaspreet Bhatia..
"The success of the road show is a testament to the growing interest in tourism between Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh," Vijay Mohan said.
The first roadshow in Bhubaneswar saw participation from 20 leading hotels from AP and over 60 travel partners from Odisha. The Odisha Governor spoke about the popular temples of AP, beaches, the cruise terminal, Araku Coffee, Lambasingi--the Andhra Kashmir, tribal tourism and Horsley Hills/ He also emphasised the need for immediate introduction of direct flight between Bhubaneswar and Visakhapatnam.
Among others, Enterprising Knot of Travels & Tourism Associates (EKTTA) president Debasis Mishra and Odisha chapter president of Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) Gagan Sarangi and Amar Kumar Sahu, EC member of EKTTA, were present.
