Tourists flock to Visakhapatnam and Alluri Sitharama Raju districts for Christmas and New Year holidays

Tourists flock to Visakhapatnam and Alluri Sitharama Raju districts for holidays, leading to full occupancy in hotels and attractions.

A large number of tourists have been visiting Visakhapatnam and Alluri Sitharama Raju districts for the past few days due to the Christmas and New Year holidays. Almost all the tourist places have been witnessing peak rush and hotels and resorts are reporting 100% occupancy.

Tourist places in the city, RK Beach, Kailasagiri, Tenneti Park, Indira Gandhi Zoological Park (IGZP), Rushikonda, Bheemunipatnam, Visakha Museum and other places, are receiving scores of tourists right from the morning. Kursura Museum, TU 142 Museum and Kailasagiri are witnessing long queues on a daily basis since Sunday. Additional attractions on the Kailasagiri, zipline and skycycling, are being well received by the visitors.

Tourists from various places in Odisha, West Bengal and Hyderabad are seen in good numbers. A huge number of IT employees are seen on vacation with their families due to holidays. Hotels, restaurants, street vendors and cab services are making a brisk business. They say there is an increase in tourist rush compared to the last few years and attribute it to friendly climatic conditions. Local transport offices are offering special one/two/three-day packages to the tourists covering Visakhapatnam, Anakapalli, ASR and Srikakulam districts. Dwacra and Self Help Group (SHG) exhibitions organised by the authorities at AU Grounds and AS Raja Grounds are drawing good crowds.

Similarly, the drop in temperatures in the Agency areas of Alluri Sitharama Raju district is also drawing huge number of tourists since last month. On December 16, Araku Valley has recorded minimum temperature of 3.8° Celsius. Chaparai, Borra Caves, Araku Valley and Lambasingi are recording good footfalls. Visitors to Vanjangi dwindled this month due to rainy weather conditions for most of the days, as per the locals. However, they expect good turnout due to coming weekend and the New Year’s eve. The ghat road between Sunkarametta and Araku has been reporting huge traffic jams during the weekends. A special train was also announced to clear the tourist rush to Araku. In view of the rush, the authorities have decided to conduct ‘Araku Utsav’ this weekend, for which arrangements are being made by the district administration.