United AP acquired highest share in total domestic tourist visits: Study

Hyderabad, July 30 (INN): Emerging as the most-preferred tourist destination for domestic travelers, United Andhra Pradesh accounted for lion’s share of about 20 per cent in the total domestic tourist visits of over 103 crore across India as of 2012, noted a recent ASSOCHAM study.

Clocking compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of over 85 per cent, Andhra Pradesh (AP) has recorded significant surge in domestic tourist arrival in the state which crossed 20 crore mark in 2012 from a level of 11 crore in 2006, according to a study titled ‘Indian Tourism Industry: The way forward,’ conducted by The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).

However, the Erstwhile Andhra Pradesh did not figure amid top ten states with high share in foreign tourist arrival in India as the state attracted about 2.9 lakh foreign tourists as of 2012 which had increased at a rate of about 11 per cent from 2.6 lakh in 2011.

With outstanding investments worth over Rs 6,800 crore, the erstwhile AP has been one of the frontrunners in this regard as it ranked 5th with 5.7 per cent share amid 20 major states attracting total investments worth over Rs 1.2 lakh crore in hotels and tourism industry across India, highlighted the study prepared by the ASSOCHAM Economic Research Bureau (AERB).

“There is a huge scope for luring investments from the private sector in the two new States – Telangana and residual Andhra Pradesh that are endowed with abundant entrepreneurial talent, highly competent bureaucracy and forward looking political leadership,” said D.S. Rawat, National Secretary General of ASSOCHAM while releasing the findings of the chamber’s study.

“There is a need for both the state governments to provide clear land bank policies for improving the physical infrastructure in order to attract new investments in the hospitality sector in their respective states,” he added.

“They should also develop the tourism sector based on their respective core natural strengths, besides, they should also conduct tourism fair and festivals for showcasing the rich cultural heritage on a regular interval,” said Rawat. “Developing trained manpower possessing requisite soft skills is also very essential for them to emerge as India’s top tourist destinations and the same can be done by conducting short-term training programs with focused skill development catering to people engaged in hotels, travel agencies, staff at railway stations, bus stands, staff and guides at monuments.”

“There is tremendous scope to develop star-rated hotels across both the new states to offer quality experiences as second tier cities in the country hold huge potential to drive up the hotel and tourism industry,” said Rawat. “The state governments should develop tourism circuits through conjunction of sites as a package in order to offer the tourists a more complete experience.”

“Public-private partnership (PPP) framework must be adopted to build and manage tourist facilities by laying down industry standards, ethics and practices, ensuring preservation and protection of tourist attractions,” added the ASSOCHAM’s national secretary general.

“Driven by the growing middle class with rising disposable incomes and ever-evolving lifestyles, domestic tourism offers tremendous growth potential for growth and development of India’s overall tourism industry,” further noted the ASSOCHAM study. “There is a need to promote domestic tourism as it spurs job creation especially in the marginal, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), promotes entrepreneurship and accentuates demand for different categories of hotels.”

Apart from Erstwhile AP, the states of Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Maharashtra figure amid top five states with highest share in domestic tourist arrival. While Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan are amid top five states with highest share in attracting foreign tourist arrivals.

Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Orissa are leading states attracting significant investments in hotels and tourism industry.