Visakhapatnam: Despite prolonged spells of rains that began in June and are still continuing, footfalls of tourists in Visakhapatnam touched an all-time high of two crore in 2024, 22 lakh more than the last year.
The record comes despite no new projects getting added in the city recently to attract tourists.
According to the District Tourism Department, 2.04 crore tourists arrived this year from January 1 to December 25, of which about 51,000 are from abroad. March received the highest number of 21.7 lakh tourists during 2024.
In 2023, 1.78 crore people visited Visakhapatnam district of which 40,396 had been foreigners.
Asked what attracts tourists to Vizag from both Andhra Pradesh and outside, the executive director (ED) of AP Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) K. Ramana said it is the cool climate.
Talking to this correspondent on Thursday, Ramana said prolonged rainfall this year had brought down the city’s temperature and created an ideal environment.
“Today, all hotels and guest houses in Visakhapatnam and surrounding areas are full. I am sure this trend will continue till the end of Sankranti season,” Ramana maintained.
Borra Caves manager Gowri Shankar said the caves received 6.5 lakh tourists, which led to an earning of ₹4.5 crore for the government. “Today, I sold tickets till 8 p.m. and the visitors’ number crossed 8,000,” he stated.
Numerous footfalls have been witnessed at Lambasingi, Araku Valley and Vanjangi in the agency areas and Rushikonda, Kailasagiri, RK Beach, INS Kursura Submarine Museum, Bhimili, Thotlakonda and Simhachalam Temple in Visakhapatnam.
The APTDC ED said if the proposed projects like giant wheel, aquarium, snow park and the sky tower are completed, tourist footfalls in Vizag will double.
