Tourism has been pivotal in Social Progress as well as an important vehicle for widening socio-economic and cultural contacts throughout human history. A wide array of interests - entertainment, sports, religion, culture, adventure, education, health and business accelerates tourism. With the advancement of transport, communication and improvement in general economic well being, the demand for tourism has increased concomitantly.

Tourism has become a catalyst for the economic development of India. In terms of foreign exchange earnings, tourism stands second to IT. According to the Ministry of Tourism Annual report (2007-08), the year 2007 saw tourism in India emerging as a major sector of Indian Economy. The foreign exchange earnings registered a remarkable growth of 22.4%, contributing 6.11% towards the GDP. Besides emerging as an important foreign exchange earner, tourism industry also provides employment to millions of people in India, directly and indirectly. Many other sectors like banking, foreign exchange, transport, taxes etc are benefited by tourism activities.

However, unfortunately, the importance of tourism as a sector has not been quantified till now due to lack of information on various aspects. There lies a big void with respect to national income, foreign excnahge earnings and employment. Tourism has been a promising sector with its steady growth of 10% to 15% annually. There is an urgent need to converge all the resources to strengthen the tourism sector.

It is recognized to facilitate integrated planning and assess the net contribution of tourism sector to the economy.

In this connection, it is our endeavour to interact with academicians, researchers, consultants and experts, as well as personnel from industry both from within and outside of the state of Andhra Pradesh. We are pleased to inform you that the departments of Commerce and History (PG) of Andhra Christian College are organizing a two day National Seminar on "Tourism: A Catalyst for Economic Development".

1. Tourism and Employment Generation
2. Tourism Contribution to GDP
3. Ecotourism
4. Tourism Products
5. Incentives in Tourism Sector

• Seminar will be held in the state-of-the-art J.D. Seelam Seminar Hall located on the college campus.
• College is approximately 3km from Guntur RTC Busstand and a walking distance from Guntur Railway Station.
• Guntur is 33km away from Vijayawada and is connected by rail and road

Places of interest around Guntur

• Registration Fee for Delegates/Scholars: Rs. 200
• Registration Fee for Students: Rs. 100
• Registration Form: Download the from the link below and submit along with the registration fee as a DD.
• Payment should be made in the form of Bank Demand Draft (DD) in favour of: Principal, Seminar on "TOURISM", Andhra Christian College, payable at GUNTUR. 
• Student Participants should submit Bonafide Student Certificate from the Principal of their college.
• If you need accommodation, please add money for the same alongwith the registration fee. (See here for accommodation tariffs).
• Send the filled in Registration form along with the DD to this address:

The Convener
Dr. K.V. Prakasa Rao
Reader In Commerce
Andhra Christian College,
Guntur - 522 001, A.P
Ph. (R) 0863 - 2221 926
Ph. (M) 99630 15195
prakash_kaki@yahoo.com