Minister for Tourism, Culture and Youth Advancement Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao on Friday said all tourist destinations in the State would be thrown open to the public from the first week of August and boating activities would be revived from August 15.
Addressing a press conference, the Minister said a new tourism policy would be in place very soon. He said the lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic had resulted in a steep fall in the department revenue and now the focus would be on measures to shore up the sector.
He said the State had vast tourism potential and efforts were on to further develop the places suited for adventure tourism, river tourism, beach tourism, echo tourism and temple tourism. The State invited private players to set up five and seven star hotels and proposals to initiate projects worth ₹1,000 crore had been submitted to the Centre, he said.
Temple development
Mr. Srinivasa Rao said Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy would inaugurate works worth ₹53 crore at the Simhachalam temple which was selected for development under the Centrally-sponsored PRASAD (Pilgrimage Rejuvenation and Spiritual Augmentation Drive). The scheme focuses on identifying and developing pilgrim sites to enrich the religious tourism experience.
The Minister said four Sports Development Centres would be established at Bapatla, Tenali, and Macherla in Guntur district and at Draksharamam in East Godavari district, at a cost of ₹12 crore. In Visakhapatnam, the local officials had been asked to allot land for establishment of P.V. Sindhu Tennis Academy.
Mr. Srinivasa Rao said gyms would be allowed to operate very soon in adherence to the COVID-19 protocol and the owners would be asked to allow visitors in shifts.
He said to encourage sportspersons from economically backward sections, the government had been giving incentives worth ₹3 crore. Winners of a gold medal at national-level were given a cash incentive of ₹5 lakh, silver medal winners got ₹3 lakh and those of a bronze medal would get ₹2 lakh.
Earlier, in a video conference with tourism officials of the 13 districts in the State, the Minister asked them to focus on measures to improve revenue in their respective areas.
Andhra Pradesh Tourism Authority CEO and Managing Director of AP Tourism Development Corporation Praveen Kumar, Managing Director of Sports Authority of Andhra Pradesh B. Ramarao, Additional Director S. Venkata Ramana and others were present.
