Tourist footfall in Visakhapatnam has seen a drastic increase in 2019 compared with the previous years. There is also a rise of 40% in foreign tourists over the previous year. But does the coastal city have adequate rooms for its visitors. The tourism officials say ‘no’.
Though the present availability of rooms is sufficient during normal days, the demand for the rooms, especially in small-scale/non-star hotels or budget hotels is high during the peak tourism season, which ranges from October to January.
According to Divisional Manager, APTDC, T.G. Prasad Reddy the number of rooms available in star hotels is around 1,600, while the rooms in the non-star hotels is about 2,000. Admitting that there is a shortage of rooms during peak tourism season, Mr. Reddy said that the demand is almost double sometimes. He said that nearly 1,000 rooms of all types were under construction stage and they are likely to be open for public from December 2020, he said.
"Apart from all these, if the capital shifts to Vizag, then the demand of rooms (all types) increase by 20% in Vizag city alone. Because it would not be just tourists alone who would be coming to the city, but also include officials and people with some work," he said.
The Tours and Travels Association president K. Vijaya Mohan opined that there was a need for premier hotels for conventions, seminars, conferences. However we see that many hotels already started to expand their branches, he said.
Mr. Reddy said that most of the domestic tourists were from West Bengal and Odisha. He said pristine beaches, tourism promotions through local events had been bearing fruit.
