Tourism
Tourism
The Vision of the Government of Andhra
Pradesh, as declared in its policy, is to
make it a destination state, given the
array of natural resources and the
traditional hospitality of its people.
Taking Andhra Pradesh to the world, and
bringing the world to Andhra Pradesh is
the ultimate aim.
AP Tourism, has kept abreast of the rapid
developments and with the searing pace
set by the State Government to make it
the ideal destination in the country. Over
the past 4 years, by which time the 1998
Tourism Policy of the State Government
started showing results, faster growth in
the tourism sector has been achieved.
Andhra Pradesh is among the first in the
country to have an exclusive policy for
tourism, a sphere that can generate
overall growth and create employment
opportunities.
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Creation of a multi-disciplined Project
Monitoring Unit (PMU) is another first for
Andhra Pradesh. This unit acts as a
catalyst in the fast-changing scenario of
tourism. It is the generator of ideas,
identifier of projects, selector of
investors and monitor of the
implementation process. As of now, 49
projects are being set up in the State by
private entrepreneurs with an
investment of Rs.592 crore. Another 14
projects are in the process of evaluation
for an investment of Rs.524 crore. Under
MoU category, the PMU has facilitated
11 projects with a cost of Rs.430 crore.
Thus, during the last 4 years the
Government has facilitated the launch of
68 projects with a total investment of
Rs.1510 crore. In addition 88 projects
costing Rs.810 crore have been set up
exclusively by the Private Sector due to
the state’s pro-active role.
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Detailed studies were also made by
reputed consultants like WTO, EDAW and
KPMG for identifying the areas for
tourism development and the strategies
t o b e a d o p t e d . T h e To u r i s m
Development and Management Plan,
prepared on behalf of the State by the
World Tourism Organization (WTO),
coordinates the diverse elements of
tourism activity and provides direction for
tourism policy formulations and Industry
planning all through to the year 2020.
With the involvement of the private sector
being an accepted and inevitable
component in tourism promotion and
development, Andhra Pradesh Tourism
has responded with alacrity and
grounded several projects with the
involvement of this sector. To bring in
more investment and projects, Andhra
Pradesh Tourism has gone a step further
to identify government vacant
government land in order to develop
major tourist attractions on these
locations.
Achievements
Hotel occupancy rate in 2002 was higher
than the national average of 53. Andhra
Pradesh shares about 23 per cent of
national tourist arrivals. A beginning has
been made and a bright future awaits
tourism. Endowed bountifully by nature,
Andhra Pradesh has vast potential for
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Tourism
tourism development with a priceless
asset - a friendly and hospitable people.
Andhra Pradesh bagged 6 National
Awards including the Best Performing
State for the year ending 2001-02.
Andhra Pradesh offers attractive
investment opportunities to private
developers and investors. The State has
picturesque beaches, hills, wildlife and
forests, forts, temples, a large number of
Buddhist sites, bird sanctuaries etc. In
order to attract private investment, the
policy provides a number of incentives
and concessions with a liberal
organizational set-up for one-stop policy
decisions and inter-departmental
coordination. Introduction of a Single
Window Clearance System is yet another
latest step in this direction. Land is the
basic requisite for any infrastructure
development Government is also inclined
to lease Government lands for important
Tourism Projects.
The Regulations of Master Plans of
concerned UDA also provide for
automatic conversion of land us (for
Tourism Related Projects and also
exemption from conversion charges.
Andhra Pradesh accounts for around 23
per cent of the domestic tourist arrivals in
the country and 2.7 per cent of
international tourists coming to India to
visit Andhra Pradesh.
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 Tourism

Investment Opportunities
The State offers attractive investment
opportunities to developers and
investors. It also offers tourists, both
international and domestic, an
opportunity to partake in the experience,
the Government has embarked on a
series of steps that will promote tourism
and result in increased tourist inflow in
terms of value. Hence, the Government
of Andhra Pradesh has adopted a pro-
active, investor-friendly, open-door
policy for the investors. Investors are
assured of a cooperative Government
and transparent administration. Andhra
Pradesh will soon be transformed into a
tourism destination. This can be
achieved only with active participation
from the private sector. Immense
o p p o r t u n i t i e s ex i s t i n t o u r i s m
development in the State. The identified
clusters for tourism development,
include Hyderabad, Visakhapatnam,
Tirupati, Vijayawada, Nagarjunasagar
and Warangal, which need to be linked
by transportation corridors.

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