Big plans to develop tourism in Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) Chairman N. Balaji on Thursday said the name of ‘Haritha Hotels’ operated by the Tourism Department across the State had been changed to ‘Haritha Punnami’.

Speaking to the media after attending the APTDC Board meeting, Mr. Balaji said signboards with the new name would be set up at all the 67 properties across the State.

He also informed that MoUs worth around ₹19,000 crore were signed for development of the tourism sector in the State.

Mr. Balaji said the board meeting discussed employee welfare and it was decided to give promotions to all the regular and contract employees as per eligibility, a salary increment of ₹2,000 every six years to outsourcing employees, and contract employees, who were not eligible for promotions, would also get a salary hike of ₹2,000, and accident insurance coverage for all employees had been enhanced from ₹5 lakh to ₹10 lakh.

Referring to development of tourism projects in the State, he said works at Gandikota and Simhachalam would be taken up with ₹450 crore allocated by the Central government and that Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu would launch houseboats and floating boats as part of the ongoing ‘Amaravati Avakaya Festival’ at Haritha Berm Park.

He said efforts to obtain international ‘Blue Flag” certification for Suryalanka beach had been intensified and measures were being taken for development of Srisailam-Tripurantakam temple circuit. Officials had been asked to prepare DPRs for tourism development at Vanjangi, Araku, Donakonda and Paderu regions, he added.

Mr. Balaji said focus was also on development of infrastructure. CCTV cameras, WiFi and intercom facilities were being set up in all the APTDC hotels and a multi-purpose office building at Berm Park and additional rooms at Lepakshi would be constructed.

He said to ensure quality, a third-party quality control check on engineering works undertaken over the past six and a half years would be conducted by teams of professors from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University and Acharya Nagarjuna University.

Newly-elected board Directors S. Muniratnam (Nagari) and E. Jayappa (Hindupur), Board Directors Vasireddy Rambabu, Indukuri Subbalakshmi, Ganta Swaroopa Devi, Shaik Mumtaz, Killu Venkata Ramesh Naidu, Kodali Vinod, P. Goutham Raj and others were present.