The fluid political situation in Karnataka and lack of publicity had cast their shadow on Dasara. The 400th annual Dasara failed to attract tourists in larger numbers. In fact, tourist flow during the 10-day festival declined and stood at 1,22,395 as against 1,26,085 in 2009.
Mysore Palace, which is a major attraction, too failed to draw enough visitors. It saw 1,03,412 visitors against last year’s 1,09,639, according to official sources.
Even the number of foreign tourists declined this Dasara. In 2009, 1,470 foreign tourists visited the palace, while the number this year was at 1,438. Most of the foreigners were yoga practitioners or IT professionals from Mysore or Bangalore.
However, the number of students visiting the palace had more than doubled, from 6,738 in 2009 to 16,674 this season.
Nevertheless, the Dasara procession saw huge crowds. Spectators overflowed at the palace and on the Sayaji Rao Road procession route, courtesy locals and people from neighbouring districts.
As a result of a drop in tourist flow, the hospitality industry suffered. Barring two or three premier hotels, most of them saw low occupancy rates.
More From This Section
A hotelier said Dasara could have been a major draw in sync with the Commonwealth Games. But little was done to exploit the opportunity. Besides, no attention was paid to make the 400th year a landmark celebration.
The show was more or less managed by the officials leaving very little for the non-official committees, which were set up in the last minute. The Cabinet reshuffle undertaken to resolve issues within the ruling party saw a last minute change with district in charge minister S Suresh Kumar, who was supervising the event, being replaced by SA Ramadas.