Heli-tourism to make a comeback to Vizag with Visakha Utsav

The upcoming Visakha Utsav in Vizag will also mark the comeback of heli-tourism services. The services will be relaunched by Visakhapatnam Metropolitan Region Development Authority (VMRDA) on 28 December, along with the grand celebration of Visakha Utsav.

Set to be organised on 28, 29, and 30 December this year, Visakha Utsav will be held at the RK Beach in Vizag. Being planned to be organised on the lines of Brazilian carnival, this year’s Visakha Utsav is expected to feature numerous artists belonging to different art forms.

Andhra Pradesh HRD Minister, Ganta Srinivasa Rao informed that while the state government had granted Rs 3.50 crores for conducting Visakhapatnam’s annual carnival this year, VMRDA and GVMC had contributed Rs 50 lakhs each for the same.

Also, Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu and Tourism Minister Bhuma Akhila Priya would also be marking their presence in Vizag for the inauguration of the upcoming Visakha Utsav.

The heli-tourism services were launched by Pawan Hans along with the government of Andhra Pradesh. While the pilot project was flagged off by Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu in December last year, the services had to be withdrawn soon with the public evincing a lukewarm response. Despite getting off to a good start, heli-tourism fizzled out with many individuals citing the fee to be on the higher end. The VMRDA officials, however, defended the pricing saying that a lower price would not make the project financially viable.