The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Holiday expo showcases best tourist destinations

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Nov 03, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Holiday expo showcases best tourist destinations

Staff Reporter

B-class cities emerging favourites, says IITM director

---Photo:K.R. Deepak

Going places! Visitors going round the stalls set up at the Holiday Expo which opened at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor stadium in in Visakhapatnam on Friday.

VISAKHAPATNAM: A three-day ‘Holiday expo’ opened at the Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium (Port stadium) on the National Highway at Akkayyapalem on Friday. The expo, being organised by Travel Media Networks in association with India Tourism and AP Tourism, showcases some of the best tourist destinations in India and abroad for the benefit of travel-lovers.

Biggest industry

“Tourism is the world’s biggest industry and employs the highest number of people.

Though India has a lot of potential for tourism, it is low on the priority of the Government of India,” said director of India International Travel Mart (IITM) Rohit Hangal.

He said that B class cities like Visakhapatnam were emerging as the fastest growing tourist destinations.

Referring to tourism studies, he said that over eight million Indians were expected to go on overseas travel during 2007-08.

With the availability of low cost airlines, overseas travel was sometimes cheaper than even domestic travel provided one planned their trips well in advance.

Inbound travel has grown by 20 per cent with four million foreign tourists coming to the country as a result of the ‘Incredible India’ campaign.

Mr. Hangal said the exhibition provides a platform to travel lovers to know about the places of tourist interest in India and abroad and the various packages available and to service providers to market their packages. Travel lovers could compare the prices and select the best. Entry to the expo was free.

Replying to queries, he said that about 30 service providers were participating in the event. The expo will be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. till Sunday.

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