Caravan Tourism in Tirupati Does Not Move Beyond Initial Hoopla

What are you doing? Caravan tourism in Tirupati, which was launched with a demo as part of Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu’s vision to encourage Tirumala devotees to visit nearby tourist places, has failed to spark interest among pilgrims.

In the first week of February, Tourism officials unveiled a caravan vehicle in Tirupati city with the participation of district officials. However, there was no development regarding the project.

Tirupati is one of the most visited pilgrimage places in the country. It continues to attract a steady flow of devotees heading to Tirumala. Despite this strong visitor traffic, the city had difficulty creating a strong tourism profile. Most visitors leave immediately after darshan with limited options to extend their stay due to the lack of organized entertainment, cultural and recreational venues.

Caravan tourism was envisioned as an initiative that could offer flexible travel options for small groups, allowing visitors to explore nearby destinations with ease and comfort.

The caravan project, planned with a public-private partnership model, aimed to enable private operators to offer vehicles with modern facilities. However, the pricing structure has become a major concern. The price of a one-day caravan experience for a group of five to eight people was around £30,000. For journeys exceeding 300 kilometers, tourists have to pay around ₹100 per kilometer. As a result, the total cost of the caravan will be around ₹ 50,000 per day.

Those costs make the service largely unaffordable for middle-income visitors, operators say.

Moreover, beyond displaying the caravan, the Tourism department has made no effort to popularize the resort with clear timetables and details of places to visit. Therefore, the project remained a suggestion and did not turn into action.

However, tourism officials argue that the caravan project has not been shelved. “This was introduced as a promotional activity. We will meet with the operators again and review the situation. Caravan services will be available soon,” a senior official said.