HYDERABAD: Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) is all set to graduate online from a simple website to an interactive portal with systems to manage its hotels, properties and its fleet of buses and boats.

Tourists no longer need to do the rounds of reservation offices or contact travel agents. APTDC's Managing Director Raymond Peter told The Hindu on Thursday that they were planning to make the portal a gateway for tourists to book their accommodation in hotels, seats in buses and hiring of boats online.

Presently in the testing phase, the portal is slated for launch in a few weeks from now. It will be vital in helping APTDC manage its stocks and properties. The corporation was toying with options of a tie-up with eSeva and APOnline to make it easier for patrons, he said.

Fiscal target

APTDC is striving to cross the Rs. 100 crore mark in turnover and reach the target of Rs. 106 crores, with a clear profit of at least Rs. 5 crores by end of the current fiscal. In 2005-06, the corporation reported a turnover of Rs. 76.99 crores with a net profit of Rs. 3 crores, after depreciation and expenditure, he said.

APTDC has 132 buses, 115 boats and 1,000 rooms in 28 properties across the State. Seventeen more properties with 272 rooms are proposed to be added by the end of this fiscal, Mr. Peter said.

New rooms

The break-up of the new rooms includes 84 in the new Paryatak Bhavan in Hyderabad, 32 each in Mayuri Complex, Araku, Coconut Country Resort, Dindi and Budget Hotels in Kadapa and Nellore and 24 each in Rishikonda and Ananthagiri in Visakhapatnam district.

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