There is little doubt that Tourism as a sector plays a vital role in rejuvenating an economy while also providing a slew of employment opportunities.
In fact the world recently celebrated the World Tourism day with pomp and vigour.
Andhra Pradesh has been blessed with having some of the most picturesque locations in the country which can easily attract a plethora of tourists from not only across the world but domestic as well. This coupled with AP being bestowed with the second largest coastline in the country AP’s Tourism potential stands limitless.
However, many factors need to be considered when it comes to optimizing the state as a tourist hub. Stakeholders from the hotel, adventure, aviation, and tourism industries opine that the tourism sector can generate better revenue with active government support.
These stakeholders opine that the branding and promotion of tourism needs to be aggressive if tourists from the country and abroad are to visit AP.
Many have advocated for the government to participate at all travel trade exhibitions happening in PAN India and showcasing the value that AP carries in terms of Eco, Spiritual, medical & leisure tourism in the state.
According to Mr Pavan Kartheek, Vice President-Hotels & Restaurant Association of Andhra Pradesh (HRAAP) “Concepts like Tribal Tourism (a new concept that merges the local Tribals with the tourists) needs to be encouraged as this creates an opportunity of income for the tribals.
There is a lot of scope in AP that can be tapped apart from Araku and Lambasingi.”
Being well Connected
Seamless connectivity is a common point that comes across people. MICE, which plays a significant role in the sector, can only work when people are easily connected from different regions.
“There are very few MICE (Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions) events that happen in Vizag and the two major factors are: 1. Logistics- There are no morning flights coming into Vizag from major cities like Mumbai and Kolkata.
- Policies- The bar licenses for hotels are quite huge, hence event organizers choose other cities to organize” said the President of Tours and Travels Association of AP, Mr. K Vijay Mohan speaking to Vizag Industrial Scan.
Airport officials have been discussing with aircraft operators like Vistara and SpiceJet to explore a few sectors from the city.
“Akasa Air had withdrawn its flight that was operating from Vizag to Mumbai and Bengaluru. We have tried approaching them to start operations again” stated Vizag’s airport director Mr. S Raja Reddy.
Another area of opportunity is adventure tourism where linkage infrastructure (eg. Jetties for water sports) plays an important role.
According to Mr. Tarun Kakani, CEO, Amaravati Boating Club, “Both the public and private players need to work together to promote tourism on a large scale.”
Need for Skilled Manpower
The hospitality sector is finding it difficult to tap good skilled manpower. The ability to communicate effectively while providing good housekeeping to guests is most desired.
“We need to adapt to new trends of digital transformation processes to improve guest engagement. For instance, knowing guest feedback and satisfaction levels about the offered services digitally and improving them is one of the ways forward” opined Mr. G Venkata Krishna, JMD, Daspalla Hotel, Visakhapatnam.
