Homestay Policy: AP To Arrange 10,000+ Homestays Across Tribal, Rural, Coastal And Heritage Regions

Addressing a gathering of industry leaders, policymakers and stakeholders at the Andhra Pradesh Tourism Conclave here Vijayawada on Friday, Naidu termed tourism as the engine of future growth. He cited its central role in economic transformation, employment generation and cultural integration.

The special guest at the event was Yogrishi Baba Ramdev. Naidu appreciated the efforts of the global forum for sustainable transformation particularly in tourism and expressed confidence in its ability to deliver results.

Highlighting the tourism sector’s transformative power, the CM said, “All other ‘isms’ may fade, but tourism is the only ‘ism’ that will survive. Globally, one in every ten jobs is in tourism,” he noted.

Naidu emphasized the sector’s potential to create eight jobs for every `1 lakh invested. Such scope in tourism, he said, is more than in the IT, manufacturing or agriculture sector. He shared plans to grow the sector’s employment share in AP from 12 to 15 per cent.

He promised to increase tourism’s contribution to GSDP from `74,000 crore to `2,40,000 crore by 2029.

The CM spoke about the inclusive Homestay Policy, with a target of organising 10,000+ homestays across tribal, rural, coastal and heritage regions. “From 19,500 rooms today, we aim to scale it up to 50,000 by 2029,” he said.

Emphasizing local empowerment, he said: “I had said, one family, one IT professional. Now I say, one family, one entrepreneur,” underscoring plans for innovation through the Ratan Tata Innovation Hub.

“Andhra Pradesh has the best temples. Some 21 of them generate wealth,” he said.

The CM said, “From ancient cities and a 1,000km coastline to forest reserves and riverine systems like the Godavari and Krishna, the state's natural and spiritual assets are one too many. The government is developing seven anchor hubs, namely Visakhapatnam, Araku, Rajahmundry, Amaravati, Srisailam, Gandikota and Tirupati, and over 25 thematic circuits, including 10 temple circuits, 5 coastal roads, 4 river routes, 2 cruises, 2 Buddhist centres and 3 eco-tourism trails.”

Breaking the myth that only the wealthy can invest in tourism, the CM cited the Andhra Pradesh Tourism Policy 2024–29 as a game changer. Tourism has now been granted industry status across segments, with incentives like 100 per cent stamp duty exemption, electricity duty reimbursement for five years, SGST reimbursements for up to 15 years, and fast-tracked clearances under the Speed of Doing Business initiative.

“The speed of doing business in real-time will cut red tape. I’m ready to introduce more reforms,” he affirmed.