State’s tourist sites fail to get eyeballs beyond the biggies

In 2023, Karnataka shattered all its previous records by drawing nearly 28.45 crore tourists.

Only 0.14% (nearly four lakh) of them were from foreign countries. Compared to 2022, the state had increased its tourist footfall by nearly 10.18 crore. Karnataka ranked fourth in the country in receiving domestic tourists.

Karnataka is, as the department’s tagline says, ‘one state, many worlds’. It is home to places that have heritage, spiritual, cultural, medicinal, nature and wildlife tourism potential.

Much-visited spots

However, tour operators and industry experts say there is not much tourism activities beyond Hampi, Badami, Aihole, Pattadakal, Mysuru, Kodagu, Bengaluru, Chikkamagaluru, Belur, Halebid and temple towns of Dakshina and Uttara Kannada districts.

Experts pinpoint lack of infrastructure, last-mile connectivity and poor publicity as major reasons as to why tourist spots, especially in North and Coastal Karnataka, are failing to attract tourists. Tourism is the third largest revenue and job-creating sector. Yet, successive governments have neglected the sector.

“Competitively, the old Mysuru region is better in terms of tourist facilities. Coastal Karnataka & North Karnataka regions have huge potential, but successive governments have failed to improve them,” says M Ravi, vice president of Karnataka Tourism Forum.

Ravi, who has been in the industry for the last 35 years, says he hasn’t seen any visible effort being made by the government and departments concerned to increase the number of visitors.

Other states ahead

“Look at how Kerala, Rajasthan, Goa, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu are promoting their destinations vigorously. These states are attracting large numbers of foreign tourists,” he says and adds that year after year, the Karnataka government is reducing the allocation of funds for promotion of tourism from potential countries.

Dip in budget

In the 2024-25 budget, the Siddaramaiah government has reduced the tourism promotion budget from Rs 90 crore to Rs 19 crore. Ravi says the state should use the services of vloggers, bloggers, influencers and travel agents from other states and countries to promote Karnataka beyond the already established sites.

Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) Bengaluru chapter convenor Meera Iyer says there are several mesmerising and historically significant places in Karnataka that have been little explored by visitors.

“Not many within Karnataka know the importance of Sannathi, a small village on the banks of Bhima River in Kalaburagi district’s Chittapur taluk. The site has several important structures, inscriptions and artefacts, including a labelled ‘portrait’ of Emperor Ashoka. Yet, we do not have proper access to it,” she says and adds this is the fate of several such monuments and sites across North Karnataka.

Info deficiency

She highlights that several of the world heritage and historical sites do not have interpretation centres that could give information related to the importance of these sites to visitors.

Rahul Kulkarni, a native of Pune, who recently visited Hampi, Badami and surrounding places says while he was mesmerised by the monuments at these places, he was left disappointed with the facilities there, more specifically cleanliness.

An office-bearer of Karnataka Tourism Society (KTS) says Karnataka tourism is caught in “egg vs hen” debate. “Unless a site becomes famous, the government will not take up development work of providing basic facilities; while people will not visit these place till there are basic facilities,” he says.

Red-tapism in sector

Experts say the tourism sector in Karnataka is caught in red-tapism.

“There has been a demand for setting up a single window clearance agency for tourism-related projects. We have lost hope that the government will heed our demands,” the KTS office-bearer said. 

He says the last major step taken to give tourism a push in Karnataka was six years ago when the government organised the Karnataka International Tourism Expo (KITE). Since then, even the several committees formed in this regard have failed to give wings to the sector.

Tourism department director Ram Prasath Manohar concedes that there has been a disparity in distribution of tourists across the state.

Infra woes

“Lack of infrastructure is one of the major reasons why North Karnataka tourist spots get fewer visitors. Extreme climate also plays a role in visitors selecting a place. The government is working on providing better connectivity to North Karnataka region, especially Kalyana Karnataka region. New airports are being built. We are hopeful that these places will soon attract tourists,” he says.

The director says the reduction in budgetary allocation is only for the current account for promotional activities. “The government has assured of providing all financial support to promote tourism in the state,” Manohar said.