Karnataka - Mysore   

State faces stiff competition in the tourism sector

Special Correspondent

Karnataka has to improve facilities at Hampi, says study

MYSORE: Karnataka's plans to take a great leap forward in the tourism sector will not go unchallenged as other States have realised the potential of the industry.

The competition it faces is underlined in a study, "Karnataka tourism: an agenda for growth", prepared by FICCI and CRISIL Infrastructure Advisory. The study points out that all States have recognised tourism as a key sector and taken developmental initiatives. Proactive measures have led to competition among States to attract foreign tourists.

This has implications for Karnataka, which is trying to position itself as a one-stop destination with a new catchphrase, "One State — many worlds". But the FICCI-CRISIL study points out that States such as Kerala and Uttar Pradesh have been able to increase the number of foreign tourists visiting them. International arrivals in Kerala increased from 69,000 in 1991 to 3,45,546 in 2004.

The percentage of foreign tourists to the country visiting that State went up from 5.6 in 1991 to 10.9 in 2004.

The corresponding percentages for Uttar Pradesh are 8.9 and 28.7.

Twenty-eight per cent of foreign tourists visit Rajasthan, according to the study.

The study has quoted the World Tourism Organisation and pointed out that tourism in South and South-east Asian countries has registered a growth of 6.5 per cent against the world average of 4.1 per cent. Statistics highlight the growing opportunity for India, the southern States, in particular. But they will be competing with South-east Asian countries to attract tourists.

The study has stressed the importance of targeting high-spending domestic tourists and offering leisure activities such as cruises. It has referred to the importance of improving tourist facilities at Hampi, and pointed out that there are more foreign tourists to the Taj Mahal and the Qutab Minar than to the World Heritage Site in Karnataka.

Only 0.11 million tourists visited Hampi in 2001, whereas the Taj Mahal and the Qutab Minar attracted 2.22 million and 1.48 million foreign tourists, respectively.

According to the study, there is scope for developing cruise tourism apart from coastal tourism in the State.

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