more-in The Buddhist heritage sites in the Visakhapatnam region have the potential to draw tourists from across the globe. All that is needed is provision of basic amenities like accommodation and toilets in addition to appointment of guides, opine representatives of Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO). Invited by govt. The 25-member IATO delegation, which was here on the invitation of the Government of Andhra Pradesh, visited the Buddhist heritage sites at Thotlakonda and Bavikonda in Visakhapatnam on Sunday. The delegation visited the Buddhist sites at Nagarjunakonda and Amaravati near Guntur and Vijayawada on January 18 and 19. They set out from Vijayawada to Visakhapatnam by road on January 19, said Murali of Travel iQ, which organised the trip. “The 2000-year-old Buddhist heritage site of Bojjannakonda, near Anakapalle, is a ‘gold mine’ and it should be protected and preserved. Unfortunately, an official in the Tourism Department in Delhi could not give us any information about the Buddhist sites in Visakhapatnam,” IATO representatives from Delhi Lajpat Rai and Rajnish Kaistha told media persons, who met them at the end of their tour on Sunday. They were bowled over by the stupas, caves and sculptures at Bojjannakonda near Anakapalle, while on their way to the city on Saturday afternoon. They likened it to the Sigiriya heritage site, which is located at a rock-cut hill in Sri Lanka. Best protected site “Sigiria is listed in the world heritage sites and ‘one of the best protected sites of UNESCO’. Bojjannakonda, also known as Sankaram, should be given world heritage status and developed on those lines,” opined Mr. Rai. “Thotlakonda and Bhavikonda are sure to attract tourists from around the globe provided they are given wider publicity. All these years, we have been sending inbound tourists coming from various countries to the Buddhist sites in Bihar, U.P., Sanchi (M.P.) and in Maharashtra. We plan to bring groups from Japan to Visakhapatnam in future,” they said. Greater scope Visakhapatnam, having direct flights from Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Singapore, has greater scope to attract Buddhist tourists from those countries. Mr. Rajnish and Mr. Rai called for bringing about a change in the perception of tourists by promoting the Buddhist sites in Visakhapatnam, Nagarjunakonda and Amaravati in a big way and making them part of the Buddhist tour circuit.

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