City tour gives a miss to heritage sites

- City tour package misses out heritage structures at One Town area
- Existing package is less of city-centric tourism
- Tourists feel the need for full-fledged city heritage tour package
- Heritage buffs hope that One Town area will get a facelift

Visakhapatnam: Though Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) has come up with a wide range of tourism packages to other areas in Eastern Ghats focusing majorly on eco-tourism, the corporation offers only one city tour package giving negligible priority for cultural and heritage tourism in the city.

Even as the City of Destiny is seeing overwhelming tourist footfalls every year with the APTDC doing everything to attract more foreign and Indian tourists, the tourism body is lagging behind to chalk out plans for promoting city-centric tourism.

In the present heritage tour package of the city, the visitors get to watch barely a few heritage structures and understand a little about the city’s rich past connected mainly with colonial rule.

The one-day city tour pegged at Rs 675 (A/C coach) for each adult covers Simhachalam (entry fee excluded, Kailasagiri, Telugu Museum, Shilparamam, Thotlakonda, boating at Fishing Harbour (extra fee), Rushikonda Beach, Ramanaidu Film Studio (only Monday), Visakha Museum and Submarine Museum.

“Existing city tour package is a mixed bag tourism comprising religious and leisure places as well as museums. This tour is worthy but calling it as a heritage tour is bit overstated. Because, this package does not touch upon the heritage structures located at One Town area,” said Ravindra, who is planning to take his relatives on city tour.

One Town area has 17th to 19th century structures of British era, including Kurupam market, Kurupam Monument, Hindu Reading Room, Dargah on Hill Top, Church on Hill Top, St Aloysius School, Light House, Statue of Queen Victoria, Queen Mary’s School, Kanaka Mahalakshmi temple, Hawa Mahal, Hindu Reading Room, Collectorate building and many more. Moreover, this area is known for communal harmony with presence of temples, mosques and churches nearby, he noted.

“This is the reason why I have been looking for full-fledged heritage tourism package to make my relatives from other places understand the city’s glorious cultural past and its historical significance,” he explained.

Giving her view, The Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) member Rani Sarma said the tourism department could draw up a plan for heritage tourism catering to the needs of visitors.

“It is high-time to have focused heritage tourism packages that sells as well as inculcates knowledge about the city’s past,” she said.

Another heritage lover pointed out that much-neglected One Town area by the authorities would surely get a facelift with the promotion of heritage tourism in the stretch.

Y Abhishek Paul