Andhra Pradesh signs AI tourism pact

‘AP to become AI powered tourism state with the rollout of the NiVU AI platform to enhance visitor experiences at tourist destinations.’ 

Kandula Durgesh Tourism Minister

Metro India News | AMARAVATI

Andhra Pradesh has taken a major step towards transforming its tourism sector by signing a strategic three-year partnership to introduce Artificial Intelligence-powered visitor services across the state. Tourism, Culture and Cinematography Minister Kandula Durgesh announced that Andhra Pradesh is set to become India’s first AI-powered tourism state.

The Andhra Pradesh Tourism Authority (APTA) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with travel technology company Explurger to deploy its NiVU AI (Neural Intelligence Vernacular Unified Model) platform across more than 100 tourist destinations and pilgrimage centres. The agreement was signed at the State Secretariat in the presence of Tourism Department Special Chief Secretary Ajay Jain, APTA Managing Director Amrapali Kata and other senior officials.

Under the initiative, tourists can simply scan QR codes installed at temples, beaches, forts and heritage monuments to interact with the AI platform through voice or text in more than 130 languages. The service will be available free of cost and will not require users to download any mobile application.

Minister Durgesh said the rollout would begin with 30 major tourist destinations during the first year, before expanding statewide over the next three years. He noted that the platform had already been successfully piloted at the Sri Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Temple and Sri Panakala Lakshmi Narasimha Swamy Temple in Mangalagiri, where devotees received information on temple history, traditions and rituals in their preferred languages.

Besides improving the visitor experience, the AI platform will provide the tourism department with real-time analytics on tourist preferences, languages and travel behaviour, enabling data-driven planning and policy decisions.

Describing the initiative as a milestone towards the Swarna Andhra Vision-2047, Durgesh said the technology would make Andhra Pradesh’s rich heritage and culture more accessible to domestic and international visitors. He added that the platform would be particularly beneficial during large religious events such as the Godavari Pushkaralu.

Explurger Founder and CEO Jitin Bhatia said the partnership would make Andhra Pradesh the first destination where every major tourist site can interact with visitors in multiple languages using AI. He noted that the platform currently serves over 22 million users across 75 countries and had earlier been showcased during the G20 Summit in India.