To attract tourists to Karnataka to improve the sagging fortunes of the tourism sector, the State on Wednesday flagged off caravans to travel to important tourist destinations.
Initially, facilities for caravan parking will be provided at forest guest houses and Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation premises, and the caravans will be deployed to Hampi, Gokarna, Badami, Kudremukh, Sakleshpur, Belur, Halebid, Sakrebail, and Kodagu. This facility comes in light of the tourism and hospitality sectors suffering losses (estimated at around ₹15,000 crore) because of the COVID-19 lockdown.
After launching the caravan service, Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa said that while tourism can be promoted with these services, they will also help in maintaining social distancing. He said that tourism had suffered heavy losses and was expecting more job losses, and the government was keen to help the sector recover. While the contribution of the tourism sector to the State GDP is about 14% now, efforts will be made to increase the sector’s share, he said. He added that the caravan facility would be extended to more tourist destinations in future.
He also said that he has directed the Tourism Department to implement in phases the development of 20 major places of tourist interest in the State.
