Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh Tourism department is planing to introduce night safaris at Tirupati and Vizag, apart from upgrading the bird sanctuaries with amenities to attract tourists. While identifying spots that can be developed as nature tourism hotspots, the department had realised that most of the locations lacked basic amenities for tourists.

As experiential tourism is the emerging trend and most travelers like to stay at such locations to get a feel of the place, rest rooms, cottages, watch towers etc. are being planned. In addition to the night safaris at Visakhapatnam and Tirupati, birdwatching sites at Kolleru lake, Atapaka, Uppalapadu, Nellapattu, Parikkal lake are being planned. While some of these places are frequented by birdwatchers, they still do not have adequate facilities.

“We will be spending between Rs 25 lakh and Rs 50 lakh at each of these locations to provide amenities. We want to take up these works alongwith the forest department and are currently in talks with the forest officials. The idea is to provide amenities at these locations without encroaching on the forest land. Depending on the location, ethnic huts, bamboo structures for rest houses, watch towers etc. will be built,” said a senior official from the AP Tourism department.