Karnataka Tourism is concentrating on Caravan Tourism, as post lockdown, roadways and caravan tourism will witness demand, said Kumar Pushkar, Managing Director (MD), Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation (KSTDC). This insight was given by Pushkar at a webinar organised by TAAI on Domestic Potential of India in association with TravelBiz Monitor.
“Tourism through roadways definitely contributes a major chunk towards Karnataka tourism’s revenue. Caravan tourism was already a part of our agenda and we plan to support it. We are also finalising our next five-year tourism plan in which caravan tourism will take an important role. We are also planning for a subsidy, and will extend all the support in getting the registration done for caravans. We are also planning to extend our support not only to caravan tourism but other segments as well where our support is required. In the post-COVID situation after two or three months, we will probably see weekend tourism through roadways. By September-October we are expecting inter-state tourism through roadways,” Pushkar stated.
Showing his concern about the pandemic and its aftereffect on the employment which the state tourism sector provides, he said, “The biggest concern of ours is employment, wherein approximately 3 million people are working in the tourism sector of Karnataka, whose contribution towards state GDP is 15%. But as we speak in this unprecedented scenario, tourism as an industry always takes a back seat in everyone’s mind. In my opinion, tourism has to be supported not for money, but for the millions of jobs that it creates.”