New tourism policy for Karnataka on the anvil

Bangalore, Nov 17: A new tourism policy for Karnataka, to give a boost to private infrastructure with the government taking over the role of a facilitator, will be in place from January next year, State Secretary for tourism, Information and Kannada and Culture I M Vittalamurthy said today.

Talking to newsmen here he said the existing policy was to come to a close on March 31 and efforts had already been initiated to have a fresh five year policy. ''Tourism can't happen only with Government initiatives and private sector involvement is a must'' he said, adding that, the government would consider necessary sops and incentives to give a boost to tourism in the state, which was the fourth largest in the country with over 300,000 tourist arrivals from abroad each year.

He said the newly formed State Tourism Council, which would meet later this month, would guide the drafting committee for the tourism policy. The 17-member Council headed by Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy would have members from the private sector also, he added.

Mr Vittalamurthy, who recently returned from the World Tourism Mart in London where Karnataka had put up a stall with private sector participation, said the state stood out for its unique showcasing of heritage, culture, Nature and adventure.

Union Tourism Minister Ambika Soni, who had visited the Karnataka Pavilion, had said that Karnataka had made its mark felt in various other advanced fields and had put the country on the global map. There the leaps made by Karnataka in tourism with increasing number of tourism arrivals was no surprise, he said.

He said there was tremendous response and a string of tourism media professionals had appreciated the heritage and eco resorts of the state and had assured to provide necessary back up for promoting them as major destinations in the state.

UNI