Christmas–New Year Holidays Draw Massive Crowds to Vizag Tourist Spots

The year-end festive season has brought a tourism boom to Visakhapatnam and Alluri Sitharama Raju districts, with holidaymakers arriving in unprecedented numbers during the Christmas–New Year break.

From early morning till late night, the city’s Beach Road corridor is packed with visitors. Key attractions such as RK Beach, Rushikonda, Kailasagiri, Tenneti Park, Thotlakonda, the TU-142 Aircraft Museum and the Kursura Submarine Museum are operating at near capacity every day. At the submarine museum, queues are stretching well into the night, while the Kailasagiri ropeway has turned into a major bottleneck with long waiting times and traffic piling up on the ghat road.

Spiritual tourism is also seeing a sharp rise. Simhachalam temple has been receiving a steady flow of devotees, particularly from neighbouring States. On Friday, congestion on the Simhachalam ghat road forced traffic police to step in and regulate vehicle movement to ease the situation.

The rush is not limited to the city alone. Tourist hotspots in the Agency belt are drawing massive crowds. Borra Caves is recording over 6,000 visitors every day, while Vanjangi hilltop is seeing nearly 4,000 tourists daily. Other popular destinations such as Lambasingi, Ananthagiri coffee estates, Chaparai, Katika waterfalls and Madagada View Point are also experiencing peak footfall. The Araku–Sunkarametta stretch has turned into a traffic choke point, with vehicles moving at a crawl for several kilometres.

Officials from the Tourism Department said the influx is likely to grow further with New Year’s Eve celebrations approaching. Hoteliers across both districts have confirmed full occupancy, and the booking trend is expected to remain strong at least until the Sankranti festival.