Amid a slew of lockdowns and curfews, the tourism sector in Karnataka has borne the brunt of the pandemic. Now that a full-fledged vaccination drive has kicked off in the state, hopefully, it will only be a matter of time before travel resumes.
In an exclusive interview with Voyager’s World, tourism minister CP Yogeshwar shared his plans to develop tourism in Karnataka.
“It is my vision to improve tourist footfalls by at least 50% compared to 2019-2020, keeping in my mind that 2020-2021 has been a Covid year. In this regard, I want to introduce unique tourism products like helitourism, seaplane services, ropeways and innovative theme parks. I’d also like to give a facelift to all existing tourist attractions in the state,” he said, adding that agri-tourism is also on the list.
“One concept that is close to my heart is agri-tourism, which will introduce tourists to our rural economy. This is also a great example of inclusive tourism. I want to encash upon the diversity of the state of improve tourist footfall,” he said.
The minister added that plans are on to commence helitourism operations across the state. “The idea is to provide tourists an opportunity to cover multiple destinations in a single day, which may not be possible through on-road journeys. This will provide a rich experience of flying for the common man and a comfortable travelling experience for senior tourists. Heritage segments have been our strength. It requires aggressive marketing and promotion, and we are committed to doing that along with a face-lift to basic infrastructure in these spots,” he said.
Highlighting the state’s tourism development plans for the next two years, the minister reiterated that the goal is to double tourist footfalls in Karnataka by popularising and promoting segments such as temple tourism, culture tourism and rural tourism, to both Indian and overseas travellers.
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