Tourism Department to roll out digital infrastructure platform to promote destinations in Karnataka: K. V. Rajendra

Tourism Department to roll out digital infrastructure platform to promote destinations in Karnataka: K. V. Rajendra

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, February 20, 2025: The Department of Tourism will make its website interactive and will put in place a digital infrastructure platform to promote tourism destinations in Karnataka, director K.V. Rajendra said here on Wednesday.

He was speaking at the coastal Karnataka tourism workshop organised by the department to create awareness about Karnataka’s tourism policies and investment opportunities.

Dr. Rajendra said that the digital platform will have details on tourist attractions, tour operators, guides, nearest hotels, resorts, and beaches and the like.

The platform will assist tourists to chalk out a plan before visiting a tourist destination, he said, asking stakeholders to share their tourism products with the department for including in the digital platform.

The director said that 25 tourism themes and 44 tourism products have been identified for government support during the Karnataka Tourism Policy 2024-29 period. Range of subsidies, concessions, and incentives have been identified to steer development in priority areas.

“Each strategic area has been identified the key interventions for the collaborative development of tourism,” he said.

Referring to experiential tourism, he said a calendar of events, including festivals, will be prepared to enable people to plan their trips. “Our aim is not to commercialise these festivals and events. But make tourists experience it,” he clarified.

Coastal Tourism Development Board

Dr. Rajendra said that there is a proposal to set up a coastal tourism development board to plan and guide the investors interested in developing tourism projects in the coast. The board will also come out with a coastal master plan for development.

The director said that Karnataka International Travel Expo will be held in Bengaluru from February 26 to 28, wherein 120 foreign tour operators will participate.

Homestays

Dr. Rajendra said that the Urban Development Department has decided to levy non commercial rates for property tax and water tax for homestays wherein the owner stays on the premises. It will collect commercial rates from the bed and breakfast facility operated by owners by staying away from the facility.

Salma Fahim, secretary, Department of Tourism, stressed the need to explore the potential of a 321- km coastline in the State. “We have to balance tourism with sustainability,” she said.