Indian Association of Tour Operators annual convention in Vizag from today

Visakhapatnam: In developing the tourism in the state, the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) in association with Andhra Pradesh Tourism Department will be organising its 34th annual convention in Visakhapatnam city from September 6 to 9. 

Over 900 delegates and Union Tourism Minister Ashok Chandra Panda will participate in the convention. The theme of the convention is “Mission 20 million tourists by 2020, challenges and possibilities”.

Explaining the objective of the convention, IATO President Pronab Sarkar said that the IATO would come up with suggestions to promote AP Tourism and attract foreign visitors and it will focus and explore the new tourism destinations, new developments to boost the global tourism opportunities in Andhra Pradesh. He said that tour operators will play a key role in promoting destinations and attracting foreign tourists. 

Already, three teams of IATO visited Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada and Tirupati in the state to observe the facilities at the tourist destinations. Plans are afoot to promote tourism and increase the growth in the tourism sector in the state, said CEO of AP Tourism Authority and MD of AP Tourism Development Corporation Himanshu Shukla.

AP had hosted the annual conventions of IATO in 1997 and 2003 and based on the recommendations of the two conventions, AP government had developed some tourism projects, he added.

Vice-Chairman of Visakhapatnam Urban Development Authority (VUDA) P Basanth Kumar said that VUDA has been drafting plans for the development of Integrated Naval Museum on the Beach Road in the city. Tourism is the face of the state and as it is one of the key drivers of growth among the service sectors and now AP is emphasising to increase the domestic and foreign arrivals with the help of IATO, he added.