Vehicle tax hits tourist flow into Mysore

The inter-state motor vehicle tax policy is being seen as a stumbling block to tourists visiting Mysore.

The recent action of Karnataka is likely to hit the tourist flow in the coming months as well. Already, the 2007 Dasara saw a smaller crowd from outside Karnataka and abroad, and star hotels reported lower occupancy than last year.

The RTO authorities agree that the vehicle tax structure has been raised quite steeply. While a 12-seater maxi-cab has seen an increase of Rs 25 from Rs 75, the 12 and above-seater category vehicles have to pay Rs 200 against the earlier tax of Rs 100.

The special permit and contract carriages have seen a steep raise from Rs 300 to Rs 450 and Rs 600 to Rs 1,500 per head. This has come into effect from April 1. They admitted this had hit tourist vehicle arrivals into Karnataka.

"The mindless increase in the tourist vehicle tax hit the tourist flow during the Dasara," says Mysore Travel Agents' Association (MTAA) President BS Prashanth.

Attributing the other causes to the poor tourist inflow, he added that the marketing for Dasara was done 6-7 days prior to the festival, while Kerala begins marketing its boat race months in advance. Instead of charging Rs 6,000 for the gold cards for 10 days, the authorities could have sold gold cards exclusively for the Vijaya Dasami day, at a nominal rate, he said.

"There were very few foreign tourists. Hotel occupancy was not even 60 per cent. MTAA had blocked 180 rooms in star hotels hoping for a good inflow of foreign tourists. But, it had to surrender about 60 rooms. Even the flow from neighbouring states like Tamil Nadu and Kerala was below that seen during the previous years," he told Business Standard.

Foreign tourist inflow was down 60 per cent. There were very few bookings for Dasara. Instead, bookings are being made for November, said MATA former secretary Ashok.

"If Karnataka has resorted to a steep increase in tax for incoming tourist vehicles, Tamil Nadu and Kerala have maintained a uniform 2 per cent. As a result, tourists from these two states, mainly from Kerala, did not visit the state this time".

He suggested that the southern states should evolve a uniform tax structure for tourist vehicles.

The fluid political situation and the BJP's 'Dharma Yatra' only added to the woes, Ashok said adding that travel agents had to face enquiries on safety of visiting Karnataka.

"There was no involvement of people and industry men, like IT companies in the festivities. Even for a 4-member TV group from Korea, only two passes were given," he lamented.

Criticising the KSRTC's attitude in raising bus fares during the Dasara season, Hotel Owners' Association office-bearer Kunder said, "KSRTC should be a model to others during Dasara."