ETW STAFF – Hyderabad
In a major fillip to the tourism growth in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh, both states have agreed in principle to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for promotion of tourism in the respective states. The announcement was made during the inauguration of Tourism Information and Reservation Centre of MTDC at Tourism Plaza in Hyderabad. MTDC had also held a road show to attract the tour operators of Andhra Pradesh to offer tourist destinations of Maharashtra.
Chhagan Bhujbal, minister of tourism, government of Maharashtra, said, “It would be a win-win situation for both states which share many similarities and complement well to each other’s culture. The core focus of this joint effort is to ensure that tourists visit both states. Besides, we also would like to give message to the tourists and tour operators of Andhra Pradesh to explore the tourist destinations of Maharashtra which in itself is a wholesome experience.”
Chandana Khan, special chief secretary to government (tourism, cultural affairs & archeology), government of Andhra Pradesh, said, “Sharing border with Maharashtra provides several advantages. There are many tourists come from Maharashtra and similarly many tourists from Andhra Pradesh visit Maharashtra. If we can work together on increasing the number of tourists visiting both states, it would be a great boost to the industry in both States.”
MTDC also kick started its national marketing campaign from Hyderabad. Dr Jagdish Patil, managing director, MTDC, said, “This new office in Hyderabad is second office of MTDC outside Maharashtra with the first being in Delhi. MTDC has been taking several progressive steps to encourage tourism in Maharashtra. Along with this new facility, we are also hosting a road-show for the tour operators to promote Maharashtra as a preferred tourist destination. It will be an interactive session with the tour operators about how best we can improve the number of tourists visiting from Andhra Pradesh to Maharashtra.”
| APSRTC appoints Abhibus.com as corporate agent |
 Online bus ticket booking portals, Abhibus Services India has been appointed by Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) as the corporate agent for expanding its Authorised Ticket-booking Agents (ATB) network to cities, towns and villages in Andhra Pradesh as well as beyond the state’s borders, wherever the APSRTC has its services.
A total of 7,200 services will be accessible from any of these agents with no additional charges for travellers. Agents can recharge their accounts only through net banking facility that is integrated into their login panels, thus making it quick and easy for them. To sign up, agents have to collect the application form from Abhibus, representatives from the region will get in touch with the interested parties, and the necessary identification documents need to be submitted along with the filled-up application form. In the areas where there are no representatives, the forms will be sent to the agents via email. The time period for activation is one week from the date of signing up. In an endeavour to make this a success, Abhibus will support the agents with all the necessary marketing tools to increase the ticket sales. Talking about the appointment as the master franchise and corporate agent for APSRTC, Sudhakar Reddy Chirra, founder and CEO of Abhibus said, “We have already started the process and there is a lot of interest from prospective agents in availing this facility, especially from the remote regions as this was not possible earlier. We have formed large regional teams to facilitate the sign-up, verification, setup and support process.” |
