A two-day tourism conclave is being organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the AP Tourism Department here on Feb. 24 and 25 to showcase the tourist potential and to brand the city as a hot tourist destination both for domestic and international tourists.
Announcing this here on Monday, CII AP zone chairman G.S Shiv Kumar said that the city played host to several major events for over two years, post-bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh and these events had boosted the image of the city.
He, however, felt that a more focussed approach and right marketing strategies were needed to showcase the city.
A total of 25 major destination promotion companies from various States were invited to the conclave to discuss strategies to utilise their expertise for promoting ‘Brand Vizag’.
Convener of the Tourism Panel of CII Neeraj Sarda said the CII had taken a decision to promote Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Tirupati as the three major tourist destinations in AP. The idea was to first begin with Vizag and then replicate the strategies in the other two cities.
He said Visakhapatnam was attracting a good number of domestic tourists but it was high time to attract more international tourists. With air connectivity improving greatly in the past few years, this could be done easily. Efforts would also be made to get Visakhapatnam included in the eastern tourist circuit.
Collector Praveen Kumar described tourism as one of the key drivers of the economy and also has a great bearing on the other sectors. Stressing on the importance of tourism promotion, he said existing tourism resources in the city and the district should be utilised in the best possible manner.
The Collector said several MoUs had been signed during the recent CII Partnership Summit as also at the one held last year to bring major tourism projects to the city and district. Sustained efforts would be made to make these projects a reality.
CII Tourism Panel members Ajit Singh Garha, Aditya Malla and P.V. Narasimha Rao spoke.
