Comprehensive Tourism Policy for State soon – Minister C T Ravi
Udupi: The State government will come out with a tourism policy next year said C. T. Ravi minister for tourism, Kannada and Culture and Sugar.
He was addressing the media persons after chairing the development meeting of tourism, Kannada and Culture department at the DC office, Manipal on October 1.
The State has a 320-km coastline, more than 1,500 sites of archaeological importance, five world heritage sites, over 40 waterfalls, five national parks, and 17 mountain peaks. Considering this, the State’s tourism sector has a tag-line ‘One state, many worlds’.
The government will come out with a comprehensive tourism policy by next year. It will have provisions for the promotion of coastal tourism, western ghat tourism and heritage tourism, among others. The minister said that a website on the model of Wikipedia with complete details about tourist spots and its location would be developed by the end of 2020.
The students of the arts stream will be involved in compiling information on history, culture and other details of the tourist spots. After verifying the authenticity of the information, a website on the model of Wikipedia (where one can make corrections and include details) will be developed, he said.
Stating that he has been on a study tour of different districts in the State, he said he will complete his tour by November end. He will hold consultations with stakeholders and discuss ideas with them during his visit to the districts.
Urging the need to involve the private sector in tourism development, he said some places can be given for adoption to some organisations for maintenance. Private investments can be sought in some locations also. Such investments should help attract tourists, generate employment and revenue to the government.
The coastal belt also has the potential for wellness tourism and temple tourism, he said. Administrations in all districts have been instructed to conduct a demand-based tourism survey to help the government implement schemes in the sector.
Speaking about the changing pattern of celebrating various state-sponsored Jayanthi’s, Ravi said, a majority of the Jayanti celebrations have failed to attract people. The information will be collected at the district-level on the need to have a relook into the celebrations and reports. I am keen on changing the way Jayanti celebrations are observed in the state. Acknowledging that the celebrations of the existing birth anniversaries cannot be stopped. There was a need to change the pattern of celebrations, he said.
Udupi MLA Raghupathi Bhat, Kundapur MLA Srinivas Shetty, Kaup MLA Lalaji R Mendon, Deputy commissioner G Jagadeesha, additional dc Sadasiva Prabhu and others were present.