The department of tourism, government of Karnataka, today released a master plan for the development of tourism in the state. The plan is prepared based on the vision 2020 document prepared and adopted by the Karnataka State Planning Board.
The tourism master plan, the first for Karnataka, envisages initiatives to attract private investment ranging from Rs 10,000 crore to Rs 20,000 crore in the next three to five years without straining the budget of the government. Most of these investments will be through public private participation and special purpose vehicles to be created exclusively for this purpose, G Janardhan Reddy, minister for tourism and infrastructure development said.
Speaking after releasing the master plan, Reddy said the state government aims to generate 200,000 jobs in the tourism sector in the next five years. “The master plan is aimed at making Karnataka the number one destination for tourism in the country by 2020.”
The master plan attempts to identify the economic contribution of the Traveller Economy in terms of both direct impacts, from sectors directly related to tourism and indirect impacts, from other sectors that rely on tourism through the value chain.
Some of the tourism projects envisaged by the master plan include development of heritage centre at Hampi, health and wellness city near Bangalore, marina ô maritime city near Mangalore, Disney theme park around Kolar Gold Fields and MICE conference centre near Bangalore international airport, sports city in Gulbarga, education city in Dharwad, knowledge park in Bellary and energy technology park in Chitradurga among others.
Later, talking to reporters, Reddy said the state government would build 28 helipads in and around important tourism places in coastal, malnad and heritage circuits. Already 18 helipads have been completed and the remaining will be completed by end of April this year. These helipads will be provided with fuel storage facilities.
On this occasion, the Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation (KSTDC) unveiled the new luxury train, Southern Splendour, which will cover the states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Puduchery and Kerala. The train will make its first journey on March 15. The seven nights and eight-day journey will start from Bangalore and pass through Chennai, Puduchery, Thiruchirappali, Tanjavur, Madurai, Thiruvananthapuram, Alleppey, Kochi before ending at Bangalore. The package is priced at Rs 1.05 lakh.
KSTDC also launched a Silver Chariot for the mid segment traveler. Silver Chariot is a special package operated on a dedicated a Volvo coach. The itinerary includes Bangalore, Srirangapatnam, Mysore, Madikeri, Hassan, Badami, Pattadakal, Aihole, Kudalasangama, Hampi and Chitradurga. The package is priced at Rs 21,000 for a six nights and seven days trip.
