Lukewarm response to yacht fest

VISAKHAPATNAM: The first-ever yachting festival, sponsored by the government, off the coast of Visakhapatnam has received a lukewarm response from the crowd it intended to entice. sThe four-day

fest

will begin on Wednesday, but has so far received only 14 bookings.

According to the tourism and Visakhapatnam district officials, the state government is spending Rs

3 crore

on “the luxury and leisure tourism” event to “position Visakhapatnam as the holiday destination befitting yachting enthusiasts.”

The price for a day pass on the

yacht

is a prohibitive Rs 14,500, which means the assured revenue till the night before the event is only Rs 2 lakh.

However, government authorities, including the tourism minister

Bhuma

Akhila Priya, has defended the expenditure on the grounds that it will boost Visakhapatnam’s image across the world as a top-notch tourist destination. “The event will serve as a market study to find out Visakhpatnam’s potential as a luxury-adventure tourism hub vis-à-vis places like Goa,” Bhuma said in a promotional event organised on Monday evening.

Tourism sector experts are calling the yachting festival “a terrible waste of public resources.” “We are being made to believe a myth that Vizag could become an international yachting destination. Why would anyone come to our plastic-strewn, slum-lined beaches when they can visit Greece, Italy, Croatia, Turkey, or even Thailand or Seychelles? Our tourism minister should realise that it is time to focus on basic amenities at our tourist spots,” says Sohan Hatangadi, member of district tourism council.


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