Never in the history of any State has there been the kind of focus on leveraging tourism potential that the youngest State of Telangana is trying to do, with the objective of becoming the Numero Uno destination for tourist arrivals – national and international, pledged speakers at a function held to mark the World Tourism Day here on Sunday.
Addressing an impressive gathering of service providers, students and other stakeholders at Taramati Baradari, Minister for Information Technology K.T. Rama Rao pointed out that nations much smaller in size like Malaysia, Singapore and Sri Lanka were able to showcase their attractions enough to lure tourists and get revenue that contributed significantly to their GDP.
In contrast, it was sad to note that in a vast country like India that was heterogenic with a diversity that would make anyone envious, its attractions were not being showcased as they should be, he said. Referring to Telangana’s attraction per se, he said being the youngest State, it needed to be aggressively promoted to the world.
Underscoring the need for public-private partnerships , he asked stakeholders to come up with innovative ways to attract tourists. We need to motivate people to be courteous to tourists and make their first experience so nice that they keep coming back, Mr. Rama Rao said. Advisor to Government (Tourism & Culture) K.V. Ramanachari, Telangana State Tourism Development Corporation (TSTDC) Chairman Pervaram Ramulu and Managing Director Christina Chongthu and Secretary and Director, Department of Tourism, B. Venkasham and Sunitha Bhagwat respectively, participated.
