Despite rise in COVID-19 cases across many States, domestic tourists continued to flock to local tourist places in the district. Almost all the tourism and private hotels in the city as well as the Agency areas are fully booked till the end of Sankranti holidays.
“As there are no restrictions announced by the State government till now, bookings are being accepted. Till January 18, almost all the rooms, especially in Araku circuit including Ananthagiri and Tyada, have been 100% booked,” said an official from Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development Corporation (APTDC) Visakhapatnam.
He said that these bookings were done in December 2021 or even before. COVID-19 cases began increasing in the last one week. “All the tourist places like Borra Caves, Katika waterfalls, Padmapuran Gardens, Tribal Museum, Kothapalle waterfalls, Chaparai and Lambasingi are attracting domestic tourists in droves and hundreds of tourists are thronging Vanjangi hills every weekend,” he says.
The tour packages being offered by the APTDC to Araku, Vizag city(local) sight seeing, Lambasingi and others are also being received well by domestic tourists. Even Kailasagiri, VUDA Park, museums on Beach Road, Indira Gandhi Zoolocal Park (IGZP), Kambalakonda and local beaches are open and are receiving a large number of tourists. The APTDC officials say that there is a good footfall from West Bengal followed by Odisha, Telangana, Chattisgarh and a few tourists from Karnataka. Many people working with IT firms who were given work from home facility due to the pandemic have been spending days.
“We have been receiving tourists since October 2021-end and the numbers have seen a surge since December due to the holiday season and drop in temperatures. The situation may continue till first week of March, if COVID-19 restrictions such as night curfews and closure of tourist places are not imposed”, the APTDC officials say.
However, a few private tour operators express their fear on further increase in cases and possible restrictions by the government, which may affect their livelihood yet again for the third consecutive year.