The Karnataka government is all geared up to introduce a night wildlife safari at the Bannerghatta national park by investing about Rs 178 crore.
The Karnataka tourism department is also undertaking a wide range of tourism projects like set up of a tourism park at Mangalore, construction of 2 eco-resorts in Bidar district and Jog Falls, extending ‘Golden Chariot’, the only luxury train in south India, to Hyderabad and other southern states in Phase III. Also, on the pipeline is set up of 23 helipads near all the tourist places of the state.
Karnataka that currently stands at No.4 in terms of tourist inflow in India received 18.8 million in the domestic segment during the first 5 months, as against 16 million during corresponding previous year. Jungle Lodges, a state-owned eco-tourism promoter, recently added 2 more camps for Nature lovers, to the existing 10. Each camp can accommodate up to 40 people.
“We plan to be No. 1 by 2011. The government spends Rs 30 crore every year for the last mile connectivity for the tourism sector. In the last India Investors meet, the tourism department registered around Rs 3,000 crore from the investors,” said K Viswanatha Reddy, director, Karnataka Tourism.
