Andhra Pradesh to get major theme parks as Wonderla comes to Vizag, Imagicaa to Tirupati

Visakhapatnam: Bringing major cheer to the people of Andhra Pradesh, two of India’s leading entertainment destinations are set to establish theme parks in Andhra Pradesh.

The State government has announced the proposal for Wonderla Amusement Park in Visakhapatnam on 50 acres and Imagicaa World in Tirupati on 20 acres.

These announcements were made during a presentation by Ajay Jain, Principal Secretary of the Tourism Department, outlining the State’s future tourism roadmap.

Popular theme park chains and an entertainment destination

He said Andhra Pradesh has successfully attracted Wonderla, one of the country’s largest and most popular theme park chains, to Visakhapatnam, while Imagicaa World, known for its world-class entertainment experiences, will set up its facility in Tirupati.

Both projects are expected to significantly strengthen tourism infrastructure and generate substantial employment in the respective regions.

Land allocation a key issue

Ajay Jain, however, flagged land allocation as a major challenge for tourism projects.

He pointed out that in several cases, land identified and communicated to potential investors was later found to have already been allotted to other government departments. Stressing the need for prioritisation, he said land should be allocated to the Tourism Department based on the potential of proposed projects to avoid such conflicts.

209 MoUs signed at Investors Summit; Vizag tops list

Highlighting outcomes of the recently held Investors Summit, the Principal Secretary said the Tourism Department signed 209 Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) worth Rs 28,977 crore across all 26 districts of the State.

Visakhapatnam topped the list with 66 proposals involving investments of Rs 11,092 crore, followed by Tirupati with 27 proposals worth Rs 5,321 crore and Guntur (including Amaravati) with 17 proposals amounting to Rs 3,960 crore.

Out of these, 27 projects have already been grounded with a total investment of Rs 5,820 crore.

These projects will add 4,597 hotel rooms statewide and are expected to generate 10,645 direct and 18,030 indirect jobs. Visakhapatnam leads in grounded projects with nine hotels adding 1,880 rooms at an investment of Rs 2,916.47 crore, followed by Tirupati with six projects adding 1,003 rooms worth Rs 1,123 crore.

Tourism investors keen on coastal areas

Coastal destinations have also drawn strong investor interest.

Bapatla district, including Suryalanka, Chirala and Ramapuram, has secured 20 proposals worth Rs 1,761 crore. The hill tourism cluster in Alluri Sitarama Raju district, including Anantagiri, attracted eight proposals worth Rs 868 crore, while the heritage destination of Gandikota in YSR Kadapa district received 14 proposals amounting to Rs 643 crore.

In the Amaravati and Guntur regions, six grounded hotel projects with 891 rooms involve an investment of Rs 884.59 crore and are expected to create 1,675 direct jobs.

Meanwhile, the Gandikota project in YSR Kadapa district includes 120 rooms with an investment of Rs 250 crore, projected to generate 150 direct and 1,350 indirect employment opportunities.