To draw more foreign and domestic tourists to the state, Karnataka Tourism is aggressively promoting world famous Dussehra festival of Mysore which is known as Dasara. The state tourism department recently organised an interactive session with travel trade of Delhi to create awareness about the Dussehra festival. Present on the occasion were R V Deshpande, Tourism Minister of Karnataka; Anand Kumar, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Tourist, Govt. of India; G Satyavathi, Director, Karnataka Tourism; C D Dyavaiah, Managing Director, Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation; P. Anur Reddy, Managing Director, Jungle Lodges &Resorts and Subhash Goyal, President, IATO among other dignitaries. The festival, for the first time, will also see an exhibition from private industries. The state tourism department has already invited Ambassador and Consul Generals from different countries to participate in the festival to showcase the tourism potential of the state.
To draw more tourists from the neighbouring states, the state government is offering inter-state entry tax exemption on vehicles coming to Mysore for the entire October. Moreover, promotions are underway on online portals like makemytrip.com and IRCTC, various airports, and cities such as Ahmedabad, Chennai, Pune, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Delhi, Hyderabad, Mysore and Mangalore. Moreover, the department, in association with KSRTC, is also introducing Hop-on hop-off bus services, ‘Mysore on wheels’, covering 16 tourist spots during the city tour.
Speaking with T3 on the sideline of the event, Deshpande said that the state has geared up to give the much needed push to tourism sector. “We have initiated a slew of measures to strengthen tourism infrastructure in the state. We are also in the process of developing a stronger public-private partnership to realise the potential of tourism sector,” he said and revealed that the government has decided to set up a corporation to give a boost to infrastructure in the tourism sector. “We have prepared a draft for a Tourism Trade Facilitation Act to ensure safety of tourists,” he said. According to him, 319 tourist destinations in the state will be developed in a phased manner, with focus on prime destinations such as Jog Falls, Mysore, Srirangapatna, Nandi Hills and Hampi.
Moreover, the state government is also making efforts to tap the potential of Mysore Airport to attract more tourists. “Mysore Airport is not being used to its full potential. We have taken some measures to address the issue. I have also taken up the matter with the Civil Aviation Ministry to see that Mysore airport is utilised to its full potential,” he said and added the state tourism department had a meeting with some airlines to expand the air service in the state. The Minister informed that the government also looking at high luxury tax on hotels and high taxes on ATF.
Addressing the gathering, Anur Reddy highlighted the latest development on JLR and Dyavaiah talked about the Golden Chariot, the luxury train.
