Sister states get tourism act together- Orissa and Andhra Pradesh offer special packages to increase inflow of visitors between neighbours

(From top) Haritha beach resorts at Rushikonda, Vishakapattanam, Haritha hill resorts at Anantagiri and Haritha coconut country resorts at Dindi. Telegraph pictures

Bhubaneswar, Dec. 1: The tourism departments of Orissa and Andhra Pradesh are coming together to attract tourists by promoting each other’s sightseeing packages in various ways.

Since the two states are close neighbours, few tourists from both regions exchange visits when it comes to tour packages, said tourism officials of both the states at a conference recently held at a city-based hotel.

“We get visitors from Bengal and north India. But response from Orissa is low,” said joint manager (marketing) the Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) Satya Kumar Puddy.

The state tourism officers also echoed the same. “We have a higher visit from Bengal and Gujarat, but tourists from Andhra Pradesh are few in number,” said marketing manager of the Orissa Tourism Development Corporation (OTDC) Alok Mishra.

“Both the tourism departments have thus come up with a proposal of a symbiotic promotion camp,” said Mishra.

The OTDC and the APTDC are soon to sign an MoU by which information of tour packages, accommodation and booking facilities for Andhra Pradesh tourism will be available at the state tourism office and outlets and vice-versa. “Be it eco-tourism packages, adventure or heritage tour, leisure cruises or beach tourism, information on readymade packages as well as customised plans depending on the number of tourists will be available with the OTDC. We are also planning to appoint local agents to promote tourists from the state to visit the APTDC sites,” said Puddy.

The information on sightseeing tours such as, the golden triangle of Lalitgiri-Ratnagiri-Udaygiri, tours for Bhubaneswar-Puri-Konark from Vishakapatnam and tours from Bhubaneswar to Vishakapatnam-Simhanchalam-Borra caves, would be available with the agents to be appointed by both the tourism departments in other’s tourism office.

The conference, held on Friday, focussed on the assistance that can be exchanged by both departments in terms of creating a better tourism infrastructure development, hotels and catering and inter-state tour packages. “We are planning to come-up with moderately-priced packages for the convenience of tourists from both states. The process will be finalised as soon as possible so that tourists can avail of the tourism season that continues till mid-March for both states,” said Puddy.