Tourism plays a paramount role in boosting the economic landscape of a city. One of the key ingredients that make a city an attractive tourism hotspot is a buzzing nightlife.

Unfortunately the city of Vizag despite its picturesque locales, beaches and hills has always fallen short of the huge potential it holds in becoming a thriving party capital.

One of the top reasons the leisure industry cites for Vizag’s subdued nightlife is absence of youngsters.

Many hiring companies often have a hard time recruiting young candi-dates for smaller towns due to a lacklustre nightlife culture.

Most of these youngsters opt for metros like Hyderabad, Chennai and Bengaluru which offer a slew of engaging clubs, cafes, pubs etc.

“We need more people, especially youngsters for a thriving nightlife and the need of the hour is to have more IT companies, BPO’s, call centers in the city. 

With bigger companies coming in, not only does the outlook of the city change but also the lifestyle of people improves,” stated Mr Srinivas Reddy one of the veterans of the industry speaking to Vizag Industrial Scan.

Albeit things have started to change and the city has witnessed a slew of new places opening challenges remain.

“Initially I was also apprehensive of opening a premium bar, but I wanted to cater to the people who travel all the way to Goa or Bengaluru for music and partying”  said Mr Uday Harish of Moon Bar and kitchen that opened just a few years ago.

Apart from the various permissions and timing restrictions that the industry has to adhere to industry players seek ease of doing business. 

“Allowing establishments to be open till late hours would certainly be good for business and would perhaps aid in creating a bustling nightlife scene in Vizag, while giving an opportunity for tourism to thrive,” said Mr Tripuraneni Sriharsha & Srivijay of Iron Hill which boasts of being one of the first breweries in the city.

Another challenge faced by this industry is finding the right skill set and the necessary training that is required in these places.

As Mr Vijay Reddy of Salsa informed, “Hiring niche stewards and staff with good knowledge of cocktails and mocktails is one of the biggest challenges we face here. Moreover, these employees prefer working in bigger cities as salaries are higher there.”   

One of the most pertinent issues in this sector is the exorbitant bar license fee which insiders say makes their business unviable.

Other states are said to have a far lower fee compared to AP thereby luring many tourists and businesses to those states. 

In addition lack of availability of desired liquor brands acts as an impediment. As per industry many of the liquor brands that youngsters prefer are not available in Andhra Pradesh due to a certain government restrictions. 

Mr Chandu of Cosmic House Vizag said, “The target audience we have is not only from the IT sector but also businesspeople, government employees and the other corporates. 

All that people need is good live music with DJ’s and the best of beverages. If we can cater to this demand, there is a lot of potential,” adding that the excise policy also needs to be looked at. 

Industry on a whole opined that if tourism and nightlife in AP is promoted and aptly supported by the government the state could well become a force to reckon with in leisure tourism.