Hotel Management Japan eyes India investment opportunities

Operating company Hotel Management Japan (no connection to the publication) is eyeing investment opportunities in the tourist hub Visakhapatnam—also known as Vizag—in Andhra Pradesh, India.

The company, which has a portfolio of 13 hotels across Japan, expressed interest in developing hotels in the tourist destination during a meeting with Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development on Aug. 14. The state's tourism department offered to provide Japanese investors investment subsidies for tourism development in Andhra Pradesh.

The state's tourism department also planned to make issuing investment permissions hassle free for these investors. Andhra Pradesh specifically stated seven Bhavani Islands in Vijayawada open for development bids. 

“Andhra Pradesh has no electricity issues and has all the resources to invest and be a part of the tourism industry. The tourism department would lend any form of support for investors looking to develop destinations," Himanshu Shukla, managing director of Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development, said in the meeting.

Tourist numbers in Andhra Pradesh have grown steadily within the last four years along with tourism revenue, driving the state to boost tourism investment initiatives. The state's tourism department aims to increase guestroom inventory from 10,000 to 100,000 by 2025.

Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development announced plans in February to open the first budget hotel in Srikakulam as part of its goal to boost the state's tourism. The tourism department entered a 30-year contract with hotel firm Picket and Bhaskar to operate the property. The partners developed the 31-room hotel near Arasavalli Suryanarayana temple.

The government gave the Tirupati Urban Development Authority the go-ahead in February 2018 to grant India-based SPI Cinemas 3.72 acres of land in the city for a family entertainment center development project under a 33-year lease agreement.
 
The project includes plans to develop three hotels next to a new convention center, food courts, a commercial complex and six multiplex screens. Andhra Pradesh Tourism Development agreed to finance the initial expenses of the construction as a tourism project.