Foreign tourists are showing interest in the fourth edition of International Day of Yoga event at Mysuru Race Club (MRC) on the foothills of Chamundi here on June 21, thanks to the emergence of Mysuru as a ‘yoga hub’ and the Guinness record the event won last year.
As many as 48 tourists from China and Japan have confirmed their participation in the event and will be performing ‘asanas’ amidst thousands of yoga enthusiasts.
Their itinerary was said to have been confirmed four months ago with tour and travel operators promoting the event among international travel network after last year’s event entered the record books.
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Mysuru entered the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest yoga demonstration or lesson at a single venue, put up on International Day of Yoga in 2017 at the Mysuru Race Club. As many as 55,506 people performed yoga to achieve the record.
Mysuru Tourism Forum chairman and Mysuru Travels Association president B.S. Prashanth confirmed to The Hindu about the participation of the international tourists’ groups from China and Japan in the event. He said the tourists showed interest in the event after travel operators told them about the event during their tourism promotion campaigns and therefore they timed their visit to coincide with the same.
The 48 tourists will be on a four-day visit to Mysuru. Such arrivals will help in boosting yoga tourism in the years ahead, he felt.
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Mr. Prashanth said some tourists from Kerala and techies from Bengaluru are also keen on participating. The team behind the event is coordinating as the idea to put up a mammoth yoga show to draw national attention.
H.P. Janardhana, Deputy Director, Department of Tourism, Mysuru, told The Hindu that 84 enclosures (drawing box-type drawings on the field) are being created at the MRC venue to facilitate yoga demonstration by the large crowds. One or two boxes will be meant exclusively for foreign tourists and international yoga learners.
Yoga schools in Mysuru have been asked to give a list of foreign nationals wishing to perform yoga so that more space will be set aside for them at the venue.
Mr. Janardhana said 80,000 people are expected for the event this year and accordingly, promotions were being carried out.
Last year’s Guinness record has popularised the event and people were voluntarily registering to make the day bigger, he added.