JOIN USAs vacations set in, tourism in Mysuru gets a new lease of life
The extended weekend has brought some much needed cheer for the tourism and hospitality sector in the city and the region. Thanks to the onset of summer vacation for educational institutions and the long weekend, Mysuru and the surrounding areas have become the most preferred tourist destinations.
All roads leading from Bengaluru to Mysuru, towards Bannur, T Narsipur, Najangud, H D Kote and also Hunsur witnessed heavy traffic since Friday night itself.
Mysuru Hotel Owners’ Association president C Narayana Gowda said that all hotels in the city had been 100% booked for Saturday, Sunday and Monday (May Day). “As no rooms are available in the city, tourists are scouting for accommodation in the neighbouring Srirangapatna and Nanjangud towns. Most of the enquiries received have been from tourists in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Maharashtra and Bengaluru.
Most of them have made bookings online,” he said. “Both the hospitality and tourism industry had been suffering a loss of over 50% in the past eight months due to various protests in connection with Cauvery River water dispute and other trade and economy-related issues. Dasara was also a low-key affair in the wake of drought but April has been encouraging for the sector. The last weekend of April has given a new lease of life to the industry. In the 24 star hotels and 278 other hotels, there are 6,750 rooms. There are also 300 restaurants, darshinis and fast food centres,” he said.
Pointing out that the 83rd Kannada Sahitya Sammelana would be held in either the last week of June or July first week, Gowda said that the literary meet would also give a boost to the industry as people are expected to descend on the city from all parts of the state for the three-day festival. “Ever since the demonetisation of high denomination currency notes, most of the hotels have procured card swiping machines and over 80% of the transactions have become digital,” he said.
According to sources, 2.5 lakh tourists visited the Mysuru Palace in the month of April. Tourists were found in large numbers in Chamundi Hill, Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens and other places on Sunday. A huge rush was also reported in Nanjangud, KRS Dam, Srirangapatna, Nagarahole and Bandipur forests and also in Kodagu.
In Mandya city, police personnel had a tough time managing the vehicular movement while residents were complaining about the huge density of traffic on the Bengaluru-Mysuru highway.
Mandya city Traffic Police Inspector Venkatesh said that as the highway is narrow in the city limits, the density was visibly high from the Hebbal Junction on the Bengaluru-end, up to Kirgandur Junction, towards Mysuru.
DH News Service