Vishakhapatnam with its tourism attractions like Indira Gandhi Zoological Park Rishikonda Beach, Dolphin's Nose, Indira Gandhi Zoological Park, Rishikonda Beach, registered over one-and-a-half lakh tourists during the first 5 months of this year. The Andhra Pradesh tourism authorities is expecting at least 5, 00,000 tourists visiting the city by the end of 2010.
Deputy general manager, tourism department, G. Satya Kumar Reddy, said, “In the last five months we have had an inflow of tourist traffic close to 1.5 lakh. The main tourist season is yet to begin in September.”
In 2009, Visakhapatnam attracted close to 4.96 lakh tourists and the tourism department is hoping to beat the figure this time. Vishakapatnam, one of the most important cities in Andhra Pradesh is well-connected by air, rail and road. Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh recently got itself 24x7 information cum reservation centre at the Rajiv Gandhi International Airport (RGIA) which was formally inaugurated by Union Minister for Tourism and Housing Kum Selja. Tourists can now book reservation in AP tourism hotels and resorts in the centre.
The Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC), which runs the centre at the airport, is planning to open similar information cum reservation centres at Visakhapatnam and Tirupati airports.
