Tourism along the State’s coastal belt and in the waterways is expected to get a push this year with the government announcing plans to develop the sector.
The Karnataka Maritime Perspective Plan for the development of mini-ports, coastal protection and comprehensive development of coastal tourism, which will be implemented in 2020-21, and a programme to promote tourism by developing inland waterways of the rivers Kali, Sharavati, Hangarakatte, Gurupura and Netravati in collaboration with the Inland Waterways Authority of India have been announced.
A tourism circuit for Jog Falls in Shivamogga — a popular destination — will be provided with supplementary infrastructure. In addition, the development of Anjanadri hill in Koppal, popular as the “birthplace” of Anjaneyaswamy, Chitradurga, popular for its legends of Veera Madakari Nayaka and Onake Obavva, and the overall development of Badami (announced in the last budget as well) have also been proposed. Among the measures announced to boost tourism in the State are a new tourism policy, which will be implemented after the present one comes to an end this March, implementation of the ‘Karnataka Tourism Task Force’ under the leadership of Sudha Murty, and an investment of ₹100 crore for advertisement and a ‘Global Tourism Investors Meet’.
However, Sanjar Imam, president of Karnataka Tourism Forum, said marketing of destinations is what the State has been lacking over the years. “You need to market yourself first before you go into marketing micro-destinations. You need to put the State on the map, which has not been done. How and where to spend the ₹100 crore announced becomes important,” he said.