Karnataka Acquires New Tourism Minister
Lakshman V /Bangalore

Tourism To Be Given Equal Priority as IT And Bio-Technology

The winds of change seems to have finally caught up with the hospitality and tourism sectors in the state. In keeping up with his promise of providing equal priority to tourism as that of other core sectors, Karnataka chief minister S M Krishna has appointed D B Inamdar as the new minister for information technology (IT), bio-technology (BT) and tourism.

According to highly placed sources in the tourism department, the move is an indication of Karnataka government’s serious commitment towards comprehensive development of tourism and is intended to bring about a sort of synergy between IT, BT and tourism. Speaking to Express Travel & Tourism, Inamdar, revealed, “There is an inherent synergy between tourism, IT and BT, which needs to be tapped to its fullest capacity. My immediate priority is to increase the number of domestic and international tourists in to the state. Though, it is premature for me to comment on any policy-related matters, tourism is a thrust area and will be accorded equal priority as IT and BT. I will shortly be meeting private stake-holders of the industry and will be coming up with a corporate game plan to enhance brand awareness of Karnataka as an international destination. Equal thrust would be given to eco-tourism, wildlife tourism, adventure tourism, etc to showcase Karnataka’s strengths as a viable destination.”

“The challenge for us is to tap their potential to its maximum and make them marketable for discerning tourists. However, at present, the task on hand is to improve existing tourism infrastructure at all strategic locations in the state on a war footing,” disclosed Inamdar.