India

Andhra Pradesh envisages community based tourism projects

Andhra Pradesh Capital Region Development Authority (APCRDA) is planning to enhance community based tourism in the capital city, Amaravati. Under this project the residents of a region invite tourists to visit their communities and provide them with overnight accommodation. APCRDA also plans to have feasible tourism projects in the region; in public sector and also private-public partnership (PPP).

“The master plan will be drafted with the aim to promote community-based tourism. It will, however, focus equally on conservation of natural resources and their optimum utilization. It will also prepare guidelines to fill the gap in public infrastructure,” said an official.

“This will be a unique tourism model. Besides this, the master plan will also have plans to develop projects in other models such as eco tourism, cultural/heritage tourism, wildlife tourism, leisure tourism, adventure tourism, sports tourism, educational tourism, pilgrimage/religious tourism, and Meetings, Incentives, Conferencing and Exhibitions (MICE) tourism,” he added.

Invitation to consultant firms to prepare the master plan has already been issued by the authority. The APCRDA, hopes that the master plan would give a push to the PPP projects which have been receiving slow response from the investors for some time now.

“The master plan will provide financial projections for the projects, expected footfalls and other parameters over a 10-year-horizon, other than the guidelines,” he said.