Terror, swine flu scared away foreign tourists

BANGALORE: It was not recession alone that kept foreigners away from Karnataka; terrorism and swine flu too brought down their number by nearly 50%.
The number of foreign tourists to the state dropped to 0.23 million in 2009 -- almost half compared to the 0.52 million visitors in 2008. This and more are part of the findings of the latest study by FICCI and Yes Bank for the Karnataka tourism department.
The findings were placed at the recently-concluded Global Investors' Meet. Titled `A knowledge paper on transformation and emergence of tourism in Karnataka', the study has researched threadbare the sector in Karnataka, and also projected growth till 2015.
SLIPPING ON INFRASTRUCTURE
The state, like any other, is subject to the seasonal effect, and foreign tourist inflow is high during the winter months of October to March. Chairman of FICCI, Karnataka, Sajan Poovayya said: "I believe the reasons for the dip in foreign tourist inflow is also because of the lack of quality infrastructure in tourist destinations. Moreover, we have touristy neighbours such as Goa and Kerala, which attract foreign tourists with their international quality infrastructure. We do have Unesco heritage sites such as Hampi and Pattadakal, and Halebidu and Badami, but footfalls are not converting into tourism revenue.''
According to him, this conversion into revenue is more important. "Tourists should not just use Bangalore as a transit point, which though increases the state's footfalls, does not convert into revenue. Now we have envisaged a good tourism masterplan which should be implemented, and I am sure we'll have a good turnout in the coming years,'' he said.
Tushar Pandey, executive vice-president and country head (strategic initiatives and relationship management) of Yes Bank, said that Karnataka has tremendous untapped tourism potential which can be used as an enabler for further growth. "Tourism can generate both direct and indirect employment and also be an instrument of supplementary income for rural communities. Karnataka has also been a pioneer in public private partnership, but tourism sector has different dynamics and is likely to involve many smaller initiatives, hence micro PPP projects should be encouraged.''
FOREIGN FLOW
2005: 5.45 lakh
2006: 5.05 lakh
2007: 5.34 lakh
2008: 5.20 lakh
2009: 2.29 lakh
Projected 2015: 7 lakh
WHAT NEEDS IMPROVEMENT
The state can expect a healthy inflow of 0.70 million by 2015 if it takes the right step in tourism policies and makes it an attractive destination.
The study has a 10-point road map
Encourage local participation and entrepreneurship
Development of infrastructure for growth of small and medium tourism enterprises
Use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)
Micro public private partnership initiatives
Governance system for eco-tourism ventures
Rural tourism projects, including eco-tourism
Development of greater security measures against man or nature-induced crisis
Single-window clearance
Augmentation of transport infrastructure
Incentive for quality accommodation infrastructure
(Source: Tourism in Karnataka, knowledge paper by YES Bank and FICCI)