AP to promote more tourist destinations

As a majority of the tourists visiting Andhra Pradesh are religious tourists, the state government is planning to promote other religious sites, especially in the coastal areas, according to state tourism minister V Vasanth Kumar

Inaugurating the 87th edition of the Travel and Tourism Fair (TTF) at Hyderabad, Kumar said, “Most of the tourist destinations in the state are still untapped, and we will focus on promoting those places.This year, the special focus will be on employment generation in the tourism segment in the state.”

Sanjiv Agarwal, chairman and chief executive of the Fairfest Media, which organised the Hyderabad TTF, said, “The trade show industry is highly unorganised in India, and it is emerging.”

Fairfest Media, which conducts TTFs in 10 cities across the country annually, is seeing a double-digit growth year-on-year. Last year; it grew 22 per cent, clocking revenues of Rs 13.5 crore revenues. “This year, we are projecting a 50 per cent growth, to reach Rs 20 crore in revenues,” Agarwal added.

“There are changes happening in the trade fair and trade show industry in India, and the number of international participants are growing each year,” he said.

The three-day TTF, which kicked-off here on Friday, saw the participation of 170 domestic and outbound travel organisations from seven countries – Dubai, Egypt, Kenya, Malaysia, the Maldives, Turkey and Thailand.

The fair was organised in association with the AP tourism, Union ministry of tourism, Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA) and Association of Domestic Tour Operators in India (ADTOI)