Youth’s design website on state’s tourism spots

Mangalore Today News Network

Udupi, Aug 30, 2016: Youngsters designed a website called ‘Heavens of Karnataka’ that presents the details of about 100 tourist destinations across the State.  Speaking about the website here on Aug 29, Monday, Avinash, the team leader, said that though there were websites on tourism, these were being run by hotels, package tourism agencies and the like. The information on the sites as such offered were minimal.

 

He said that ‘Heavens of Karnataka’ presented complete details of tourist spots along with the local history of each destination in the State. Tourist centres located nearest to these places were also listed. More details would soon be added, he said.

The photographs of the tourist spots too had been uploaded in the website. The spots were divided into beaches, spiritual, heritage, nature, waterfalls and wildlife categories on the website.

The team would be adding the details of 50 more tourist destinations in the State to the website next month. “Our intention is to include even small tourist centres in the remote corners of the State,” Mr. Avinash said.

Aim tourism promotion : Compared to our neighbouring states such as Goa and Kerala, Karnataka has not been as successful in promoting tourist destinations to tourists both within the country and abroad. The people should join hands with the government in promoting tourism. The group, which has both developed and designed the website, comprises of Avinash, Shashikanth Shetty, Tilak Raj, Divakar Hiriyadka, Rashmi Jenniker, Ashwini Jain, Gururaj B., Viraj Kaup and Nitish Rao.

This team developed the website at a cost of Rs. 30,000 that the members contributed from their own pockets. They would also look after the updating and maintenance of the website. “We are open to suggestions on any aspect of the website,” they said.

Inaugurating the website, Pramod Madhwaraj, Minister of State for Fisheries, Youth Empowerment and Sports, said that the State had a huge potential for tourism.   The Minister added that the developers of the website should also focus on building contacts with taxi operators at popular tourist hotspots.

“The team members who have put in all their effort to create the website should consider a tie-up with travel agencies so that it helps the tourists. This will help generate funds, which in turn will help in sustaining the website,” the Minister said.