The Travel and Tourism industry is well on its way tobecoming one of the most powerful growth engines in the coming millennium and is anticipated to generate nearly 338 million jobs by the year 2005 with an annual growth rate of 4.8%.

Acknowledging the vast potential and spin-off tourism has on other industries, the Government of Andhra Pradesh is focusing on tourism for generating greater employment and achieving higher economic growth.

We have a vision of making Andhra Pradesh the destination state of India, given its attractive diversity, natural endowments and friendly population. Andhra Pradesh has a rich tourist potential, which is yet to be exploited. "Bring the world to Andhra Pradesh, take Andhra Pradesh to the world", is our guiding spirit.

Andhra Pradesh has great potential for tourism with its temple towns, beach resorts, monuments and other tourist attractions. Hyderabad and Visakhapatnam airports are proposed to be expanded to receive international flights. Hyderabad has been identified as one of the 5 locations in the country for the establishment of a full-fledged international airport. Direct flights to Singapore have recently commenced from Hyderabad in addition to other destinations. Hyderabad is being developed as a major transit hub between Europe and the far East.

"Andhra Pradesh Unlimited", is the strategy of this policy. We recognize the advantage of offering the collective attractiveness of other places in the region with places in Andhra Pradesh. We plan to decentralize tourism development to districts and local bodies. This policy will also encourage private sector in the tourism industry and provide a frame work for private-public partnership.

To encourage private investment in tourism and related industry, various incentives and concessions are being offered. In keeping with our objective and spirit, taxation has been attempted to be rationalized on the logic of intelligent taxation to enable private sector to expand tourism. While acknowledging the primacy of the private sector, the state retains with itself the responsibility of provision of public goods and for addressing issues related to safety, quality and regulation.

We view this new tourism policy as the product of a shared vision for the state. A series of consultations within the government and with the industry culminated in this policy, which stands enriched by the inputs of the industry. It is necessary that the state moves in a clear direction and consolidates its comparative advantage and realizes its tourist potential to the fullest. It is in this context that the tourism policy has to be evaluated.