Telangana, one of India’s fastest-developing states, has recently intensified efforts to brand itself as a heritage and leisure tourism destination through strategic investments, policy reforms, and targeted marketing initiatives. In 2023, the state attracted approximately 58.6 million tourists, combining domestic and international visitors, illustrating the effectiveness of heritage-led tourism promotion such as the global positioning of Ramappa Temple following its UNESCO World Heritage designation and urban-leisure offerings in Hyderabad. Notwithstanding strong domestic traffic, international arrivals remain modest — with around 1.6 lakh foreign tourists in 2023, highlighting the need for stronger global branding and diversified products. Telangana’s proactive tourism strategy includes ambitious targets under the Telangana Tourism Policy 2025– 2030 to attract ₹15,000 crore in investments, generate three lakh jobs, and elevate tourism’s contribution to over 10 % of the state’s GSDP. Complementing these policy targets, the state secured approximately ₹22,000 crore in proposed tourism investments in 2025, demonstrating significant private sector confidence in the sector’s growth potential. These figures underscore Telangana’s transition from an emerging to a more mature tourism destination and provide a quantitative foundation for branding strategies that leverage heritage assets, cultural festivals, urban leisure experiences, and digital marketing to enhance global destination visibility. The main objective is to study the Branding the Telangana as a Heritage and Leisure Tourism Destination and the policy.
Ramanaiah et al. (2026) studied this question.