Even as a beleaguered tourism industry grapples with the massive hit it has taken because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Karnataka is set to get a new tourism policy for the next five years.
The final meeting to discuss the Draft Tourism Policy 2020-25 was held recently. The policy is expected to address aspects such as attracting more domestic and international travellers to place Karnataka on the tourist map of the country, giving a boost to various kinds of tourism such as heritage, wildlife, spiritual, cultural, adventure, coastal, nature, health, and agriculture, looking into the development of tourist destinations, providing basic amenities, and revenue generation.
With its tagline ‘one State, many worlds,’ Karnataka has often been compared to the neighbouring Kerala and Goa, which are extremely popular among domestic and international travellers.
Implementation
Minister for Tourism C.T. Ravi told The Hindu that the new policy also takes up an evaluation of last year’s policy to see what has been implemented and what hasn’t, and why, apart from including a road map to implement the new policy by year. “We need the concurrence of the Finance Department, Planning Department, and then the Cabinet. Once [it is] through, the Chief Minister will release the policy by this month-end or the next month,” he said.
Asked about what to expect from the new policy, he said to attract international travellers, entry fee into south Indian States could be waived through a mutual understanding to create a circuit to facilitate travellers between different south Indian States. In addition to this, district-level task forces will be initiated to make planning more inclusive, letting them decide on the dos and don’ts for those destinations instead of centralising them in Bengaluru, he said.
The impact of COVID-19 has also been factored in for the initial survival and revival of the industry. “We have made a few changes to the subsidy application. A demand survey will be carried out as to where a budget hotel or resort needs to come up. Based on the fulfilment of conditions, we will give subsidy. Where there is abnormal growth, no subsidy is required. Other than through a policy, travel agents will be roped in with attractive packages to facilitate more tourists into the State, as the maximum number of tourists go through them,” Mr. Ravi said.
The entire tourism ecosystem has had a non-starter season this year with the pandemic washing out the peak summer vacation period. Industry representatives have estimated that the situation is likely to improve only once a vaccine for COVID-19 is available.
