Visakhapatnam, which is having direct flights from Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Singapore, has scope to attract tourists coming from those countries. This is due to the presence of around 30 Buddhist heritage sites in North Andhra.
The frequency of Vizag – Colombo SriLankan flight, which is presently operating four days a week, would continue its high occupancy, even if it is operated seven days a week.
“A tourism carnival should be held in Colombo to showcase the Buddhist sites in Visakhapatnam,” says Muralikrishna of TraveliQ, Visakhapatnam.
“We are having very good occupancy with around 76 %t on the average. The special fare offer has been extended for booking and travel up to March 31. While the normal fare for the round trip (Vizag-Colombo-Vizag) is ₹ 15,000, the special fare is priced at ₹10,800,” Vizag manager of SriLankan Dheeraj told The Hindu . Passengers can book their tickets on the airlines website, at the city office or through authorised travel agents.
The Buddhist heritage sites in Visakhapatnam and North Andhra region, as also those in other parts of Andhra Pradesh are not known even to domestic tourists in north India, leave alone foreign tourists, say Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) representatives from Delhi, Rajnish Kaistha and Lajpat Rai, who were here on a two-day visit recently.
They called for bringing about a change in the perception of tourists by promoting the Buddhist sites in Visakhapatnam region, Nagarjunakonda and Amaravati in a big way and making them part of the Buddhist tour circuit.
B. Madhu Gopal
