New website on travel-related solutions launched

To promote Andhra Pradesh as the most-favoured destination for tourism, the state government has launched a new website, www.aptourism.in, as a one-stop online solution for all travel-related solutions.

The new website not only provides all the basic information on major tourist destinations in the state but is also hyperlinked to enable online reservations on airlines and railways.

Besides, information on weather in various cities of the state, maps and currency conversion is also provided.

The website also supports video tours to make a strong visual impact on the potential tourists. It also has a separate section on news and events highlighting tourism activities in the state.

V Nagi Reddy, secretary, tourism, Andhra Pradesh, said that in 2004, 7.5 crore tourists visited the state and with these numbers multiplying by the day, operational convenience is a necessity for tourism.

"This website will help in achieving this end," he added.

J Geeta Reddy, minister for tourism and sugar, Andhra Pradesh, said, "The state lagged a good website till now. This will help us to promote tourism in a big way."

The website also enables facilities like downloading of visa application forms, links for online hotel reservations besides a help desk to help the traveller with regard to his/her queries.

The minister also launched a web-enabled interactive multimedia CD, a comprehensive information digest on Andhra Pradesh tourism, that converts itself into a website and a portal once it is used online.