AP to set up Tourism, Culture & Heritage Board

Vijayawada, Oct.13: With an aim to boost the tourism sector in the State, the Andhra Pradesh government was planning to constitute a statutory Board for Tourism, Culture and Heritage. The AP Tourism Culture Heritage Board will be chaired by the Chief Minister with Ministers as vice-chairmen and will have a State-level committee and an executive committee for coordination, planning and execution of the programs. Under the executive committee, tourism authority, culture commission and heritage authority will be established with DG as its chairman and other experts. It was also decided to constitute a district tourism and culture council and city tourism and culture council as part of the board. The board's overall functions, include planning, development, protection, preservation and promotion of tourism, culture, heritage, arts and creativity of the Telugu people. Speaking at the meeting, the Chief Minister said the board will play a crucial role in the promotion and development in the tourism, culture and heritage sectors. To promote religious tourism in a big way, the Chief Minister asked the officials to prepare master plans to give a facelift to temples like Simhachalam, Annavaram, Srikalahasti and other important ones. He shared his dream to make Andhra Pradesh the world’s best cultural city in the near future. The Chief Minister held a review meeting at his new office in Velagapadu which was attended by officials from the Tourism department and other officials from the Chief Minister’s Office.