The Andhra Pradesh Tourism Department has been selected as the ‘Best Tourism Promotion State’ by the Global Travel Market (GTM 2026), one of South India’s largest travel and trade expos.
As part of this recognition, Tourism, Culture and Cinematography Minister Kandula Durgesh has been officially invited to receive the ‘Metro Expedition – GTM Tourism Award 2026’, at a function scheduled on June 4 at The Leela Hotel in Kovalam, Thiruvananthapuram, Keralam
The award is being seen as recognition of the Andhra Pradesh government’s aggressive tourism promotion strategy, innovative reforms and large-scale branding initiatives.
Mr. Durgesh said the State government had transformed tourism into a “mission mode” sector through policy reforms, infrastructure development and global-level promotion campaigns. He noted that Andhra Pradesh introduced an industry-friendly Tourism Policy 2024–29, along with special policies for homestays, caravan tourism, tent cities and public-private partnerships.
He informed that the State had attracted over ₹20,000 crore in tourism investments and signed more than 100 MoUs within 18 months through investor summits, roadshows and international outreach programmes, and attributed it to the innovative destination development and digital marketing initiatives implemented by the Tourism Special Chief Secretary Ajay Jain, Tourism MD Amrapali Kata and the Tourism Department team.
