Karnataka calls out to trade

In an endeavour to increase domestic footfalls, Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation (KSTDC) and Department of Tourism, Government of Karnataka, organised multi-city roadshows across the country to help travel trade promote the state in a new light.

Manas Dwivedi

Karnataka Tourism has set an objective to conduct at least two roadshows every month, covering one Tier-I and one Tier-II city, informed Kumar Pushkar, Managing Director, Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation (KSTDC). Sharing details about the roadshow in Delhi, he said, “We would like to take forward all our partners in the tourism sector to different places and build a networking platform. In Delhi, we had 25 trade partners from Karnataka who showcased their products, while we welcomed almost 150 tour operators from the city as buyers. I am sure it will help us in doing a better business. There has been a lot of development in the state in terms of improved facilities and infrastructure. This is a right platform where we can elaborate our offerings and build better networking.”

Pushkar further informed that Karnataka has moved from the ninth position to the third position in last two years, as per the India Tourism reports. “Karnataka had welcomed 14 crore domestic tourists two years ago while the tourist footfall increased to 21 crores last year. This growth in a period of two years in phenomenal. Looking at the betterment of infrastructure, the state has witnessed positive changes in the last couple of years,” he explained.

Karnataka had welcomed 14 crore domestic tourists two years ago that increased to 21 crores last year

Many new hotels have come up at major tourist attractions in the state. “Hampi hardly had any five-star hotel three years back. The city currently has at least seven five-star hotels. In total, we have 1,500 rooms in Hampi and Hosapete. Now, Mysore also has a good number of five-star hotels. Hill stations like Coorg and Madikeri now feature so many hotels besides plenty of resorts and homestays. Same is the scenario with areas like Hassan and Chikmagalur. Things have been changing in the state and with better facilities, road infrastructure and air connectivity are also improving.”

Pushkar also briefed about Karnataka’s new promotional campaign. “Our new campaign called ‘Script Your Adventure’ is part of promoting the state globally with an eye-catching TVC and print campaign. Our tagline says, One State, Many Worlds, which truly suits our multiple diverse tourism offerings and destinations. With the new campaign, we want to attract tourists to the state offering them freedom to script their own adventure along with having mesmerising experiences during their stay. We are also promoting Karnataka aggressively on social media and other digital marketing mediums,” he said.

To engage dialogue and business among stakeholders of the industry, Karnataka Tourism is organising Karnataka International Travel Expo 2019 (KITE) in Bengaluru from August 25-27. “The need was to conduct a travel show for showcasing Karnataka on the international platform immediately. The two-day show will feature B2B roadshow and meetings between buyers and sellers, where 100 hosted international and 250 hosted domestic buyers would be visiting Bengaluru to network, interact and do business with all our stakeholders. There will be post-Fam tours for buyers too. The show will help tourism achieve new heights in Karnataka and build relationships across the world,” he concluded.