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‘The State Is Facing A Challenge From Other States In The Country’
Karnataka has been relentlessly trying to make its mark in
the tourism arena for sometime now. D T Jayakumar, Karnataka's Tourism
Minister speaks about his plans and the initiatives planned, which is bound
to make a difference in the state's tourism identity.
Karnataka has always been short of funds, when it comes
to tourism development. What steps are you taking to improve that situation?
We have been working hard on raising funds for tourism development in the state.
A Rs 1,000-crore integrated action plan with private sector participation has
been formulated for the development of tourism in the State. The state government
had prepared the plan following an assurance from Union Tourism Minister, Renuka
Choudhury, that Rs 200 crore would be provided each year for the development
of the tourism sector in the state. We have also sought for more fund allocation
for the sector in the state budget.
What other developments have you initiated in Karnataka
as far as tourism is concerned?
We have identified land for construction of four tourism parks in the state,
in Mysore, Bangalore, Gulbarga and Belgaum. In Mysore, already 50 acres of land
has been selected for taking up the pilot project. We want to upgrade the Jog
falls on the lines of the Niagara falls. The plan is to create artificial falls
by storing the water in the dams and releasing it on weekends to attract tourists.
We have also planned to construct rest houses along the state and national highways
for every 50 km for the benefit of tourists.
The state also plans to convert travellers who come for the
many events held in the state, specifically to visit the other destinations.
Karnataka as a state always has something or the other happening throughout
the year. Major events like the Dassara which is held in Mysore, IT.com and
Bangalore Habba held in Bangalore and the world famous Mahamastakabhisheka to
be held in February 2006 are major crowd pullers. We plan to focus on these
visits and attract them to explore the state.
Considering the potential of joint tourism promotion in
the southern circuit, what initiatives have been taken?
We have appealed to the Centre to have a pragmatic approach to develop the tourism
sector as far as developing a joint tourism circuit package covering the Southern
States is concerned. At the recently held Southern States Tourism Secretaries
meeting in Hyderabad, it was decided to chalk out programmes to develop tourism
circuits covering Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, and Kerala. At this
meeting, visa on arrival for genuine tourists and levy of uniform taxation of
tourist vehicles were some of the major resolutions passed.
What is the main challenge faced by the state, currently?
Apart from the infrastructure bottlenecks, the state is facing a challenge from
other states in the country, for which it plans to use its recent branding as
a propeller. Our main challenge is to overcome the stiff competition from states
like Kerala, Goa, Tamil Nadu in the south and Rajasthan, Uttaranchal and J&K
from the north.
The Spirit
of Co-opetition
With the intention of promoting
South India as a unified tourist destination, the South India Tourism
Council (SITCON) was created with representations from the states of Andhra
Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry and the Union Territories
of Andaman & Nicobar and Lakshwadeep Islands. This was initiated because
historically much of the tourist activities as well as destination management
have been centered along the golden triangle of Agra, Delhi and Jaipur.
In South India, only Goa and Kerala have gained international attention
as tourist destinations and other states are strongly promoting their
destinations.
The aim of SITCON is to
emphasise 'co-opetition'; to cooperate and coordinate with other states
on areas of common interest and to compete for increasing the individual
shares within the whole, which will lead to enlarging the overall market.
SITCON is an autonomous
society, which will pursue the common tourism interests of all the southern
states. It will develop tourism circuits, evolve joint marketing and promotion
campaigns, seek participation from private sector, share best tourism
practices and resources, take up common problems and opportunities like
rationalisation of taxes and levies, establishing seamless travel and
smooth transit between the States, improved air connectivity and so on.
Express Travel &
Tourism speaks to Tourism ministers and principal secretaries of tourism
of southern states and finds out what each state is doing to promote their
tourism offering and how they can compliment each other.
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