Development of coastal tourism discussed at stake holders’ meeting

Development of coastal tourism discussed at stake holders’ meeting

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangalore, Dec 17, 2011: Subodh Kant Sahai, the union minister for tourism, was the resource person at the stake holders meeting on holistic development of tourism in the coastal region, which was held at Hotel Gateway on Dec 17 Saturday. 

The minister, who arrived nearly two and half hours late, said that the central tourism department will set up 20 more overseas offices in Karnataka. Lamenting over the high accommodation rates in Goa, he said that this will discourage tourists from spending their vacations in Goa. Stating that people visit India to see India, and not Paris or Singapore, he said that showcasing Indian culture should be given top priority in tourism development.

Stating that the government has identified 38 destinations to be developed into tourist hotspots, he said that if the tourist sector develops as expected, 30 million jobs will be generated for Indians by 2020. He also announced that a clean India campaign will be launched on Dec 20 under the leadership of Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalaam, the former president of India. Further, he said that beach tourism will be developed in Karwar, Goa, Kerala, and Karnataka. 

Speaking about the objectives of the tourism department, he said that the department wants 1 percent of the total tourists of the world to visit India, owing to which it is essential to make things as comfortable as possible for tourists. 

Speaking on the occasion, MLA U. T. Khader urged the minister to focus on the sea erosion problem as it can wreck the beach tourism plans for the area. 

The stake holders meeting commenced shortly before the minister arrived. Upendra Hosabettu objected to the inclusion of 329kms of the coast into CRZ II, stating that this has a number of disadvantages. A number of fishermen will lose their land to tourism investors and subsequently, they will lose their livelihood. Mahesh Kumar, CRZ assistant director, said on an optimistic note that the CRZ will not prevent the introduction of water sports along the coastline. 

Eulalia D’Souza said that she was participating in the stake holders’ meeting for the past 23 years and complained that the meetings are just a waste of time as nothing that is discussed gets implemented.

She also said that all the memorandums submitted to officials are just collecting dust in their offices. 

After the arrival of the minister, she placed before him certain issues discussed at the meeting such as branding the region as a tourist hotspot, demarcation of special tourist zones, ecological tourism, medical tourism, and need to creating variety in tourist destination. The stake holders also demanded the establishment of a single-window office to address grievances. They also proposed tourist attractions such as tourism villages, night safaris, leasing out coasts, and the use of Mangalore Port and an alternative point for embarking. 

B. Nagaraj Shetty, the chairman of the Coastal Development Authority; N. Yogish Bhat, the deputy speaker; N. C. Muniyappa, the principal secretary of state tourism; along with Vivek Nair, P. V. Mohan, Sanjay, Sundar Naik, and others were also present.