Vinay Kumar Sorake, Urban Development Minister, said on Saturday that tourism in the State would be developed on the lines of Kerala and Goa.
He was speaking after distributing 71 taxis to beneficiaries of Schedule Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Backward Classes and Minorities at a function organised by the Department of Tourism, here.
Mr. Sorake said that while Goa had developed beach tourism, Kerala had gone a step ahead by promoting medical tourism using its tradition of Ayurveda and promoting its traditional culture and arts, in addition to beach tourism. Both these States were reaping the benefits of growth in the tourism sector.
There was a lot of scope for development of tourism in Udupi and Dakshina Kannada districts as they had pristine beaches and a lot of pilgrim centres, Mr. Sorake said. But it was essential to provide proper facilities to the tourists coming from abroad and different parts of the State and the country, he said.
Besides improving infrastructure at pilgrim centres and beaches, it was necessary to hold training workshops for taxi and autorickshaw drivers, he said.
They had to be trained in being courteous to both domestic and foreign tourists. “The tourism sector has a lot of potential to generate employment for local people,” he said.
