In the last year, although there has been a spurt in domestic travel to Karnataka, the number of foreign tourists has not increased. , Photo credits: K. Murali Kumar
Now that the days of pandemic and limited travel are over, tourism departments of many states are upping their game to attract more tourists. While tourism as an industry has seen some good days, there are still some areas that need a lot of improvement.
In the last year, although there has been a spurt in domestic travel to Karnataka, the number of foreign tourists has not increased. While a senior tourism department official agreed that there were very few foreign tourists, other stakeholders pointed out that most of the international tourists visiting the state are the corporate crowd, with Bengaluru being the travel hub.
Lambani woman, who received the land title certificate for her house from Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a huge public meeting at Malkhed in Kalaburagi district. Also seen in the picture are Governor Tavarchand Gehlot, Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai, Revenue Minister R Ashok and Animal Husbandry Minister Prabhu Chavan. , Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
“When it comes to international passengers in the state we are only seeing corporate traffic. In the days to come, we need to promote Karnataka internationally, market it as a state and showcase it as a long-term tourism destination,” said Sanjar Imam, president, Karnataka Tourism Forum.
The senior official said corporate travelers should also be treated as tourists and Bengaluru’s transformation as a meeting, incentive, convention and exhibition (MICE) destination is the reason for this influx. He further said that after successful roadshows in Spain, Milan and Paris, the department will now move to Berlin to bring in more foreign tourists.
time to shine
Experts are of the view that promoting the state as a tourist destination would also require the development of off-beat destinations and divert the attention of tourists from a set of popular places in other districts of the state. He said marketing some places as alternatives to already popular places would reduce crowding while more places would be added to the itinerary.
“Sakleshpur, which is also a coffee land, may attract more tourists in the coming days instead of Chikkamagaluru and Kodagu. It still has the charm of being quaint while being well accessible from Bangalore. With the new airport, Shivamogga can also be developed with the theme of Malnad and Malgudi Days nostalgia,” explained Mr. Imam.
The new airports coming up under the UDAN scheme are expected to increase the number of tourists in the state. “The new airports at Hubballi, Belagavi and Kalaburagi will help tourism immensely. We expect the flights to be fully operational. Now we can see that hotels, resorts and homestays are doing well across the state and there has been some improvement in connectivity as well,” K. Shyama Raju, President, Karnataka Tourism Society said.
Department officials said that a major thrust in tourism this year would be towards the development of coastal tourism. Other stakeholders also agreed that with the development of new resorts and increasing demand, there is a need to promote the coastal area in a big way, especially in Udupi district.