The Andhra Pradesh Tourism Department held a road show here on Friday to popularise wide range of tourism destinations in that State.
Special Chief Secretary to the Andhra Pradesh government, Tourism and Culture, Chandana Khan told presspersons on Friday the department was now eyeing tourists from south India, particularly Karnataka.
She said the department was especially keen on wooing the IT crowd in the city to tourism spots in that State, which, she claimed, was ranked no. 1 in domestic tourism. She said Hyderabad had been awarded the Best Heritage City tag by the Government of India.
Ms. Khan said apart from the well-known destinations such as Tirumala-Tirupati and Penukonda, the State wants to promote relatively little known and less visited spots.
“We have introduced two new package tours,” she said. The first one will start from here and cover Lepakshi, Veerapuram, Thimmamma Marrimanu, Yogi Vemana Memorial, Kadiri Lakshmi Narasimhaswami temple, Puttaparthi, Nimmalakunta, Dharmavaram, Kumbhakarna Gardens and Penukonda Fort before returning to Bangalore.
The second package tour conducted from Hyderabad will cover destinations such as Pillalamarri, Alampur, Orvakal, Mahanandi, Ahobilam, Belum Caves and Yaganti before returning to Hyderabad.
Executive Director of Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) Sumit Singh said the corporation had joined hands with Jet Airways to launch an air package tour from Hyderabad, ‘Lord Balaji Darshan’, which offers a trip from Hyderabad to Tirumala-Tirupati and back at a cost of Rs. 9,199. This package may also be extended to Horsley Hills soon.
Ms. Khan said they were planning an exclusive tour for the IT crowd in the city covering weekend getaways such as Horsley Hills which offers adventure sports activities.
She said they were also planning an integrated circuit tour, covering various destinations in south India.
