Heli-tourism in Karnataka soon: Tourism Minister C P Yogeeshwara

Tourism Minister C P Yogeeshwara said, “Tourism in Karnataka would be developed on the lines of Gujarat and heli-tourism will be launched in Mysuru and also in remaining three regions of the state -- Bengaluru, Belagavi and Kalaburagi -- shortly.”

Speaking to media persons here, on Tuesday, he said, “The heli-rides will connect with neighbouring states too, to attract tourists from there. Heli-tourism in Mysuru is a long-cherished dream. The departments concerned have been asked to make arrangements to build a helicopter terminal in Mysuru. The heli-rides would be offered at affordable costs.”

“In Mysuru, the hospitality sector, especially hotels, would be brought under the industrial sector from the present business sector, to extend the benefits from the government. This will also give a boost to tourism. The high rate of inter-state road tax, compared to neighbouring states, is a hindrance for the development of tourism in Mysuru. One nation-one tax would be implemented soon, to solve this problem. Taxes would be implemented on the Kerala model,” he said.

“The Disneyland like project at KRS Dam is still alive. Just because it is a project of the JD(S)-Congress coalition government, it is not shelved. For us, development of tourism is priority, not the government that conceived the project. A decision on the project would be taken after holding a meeting with the Water Resources Minister,” Yogeeshwara said.

Special provisions are expected in the state Budget, scheduled to be presented on March 8, for the development of tourism, he added.

The minister later launched six Ambaris, double decker open buses on the lines of BigBus of London. The buses of the Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation will operate in Mysuru as well as Hampi to give a tour of the respective places. The mention of the buses was made in the budget of 2019-20.