By R. Vijaya Kumar
Published in The Hindu
BANGALORE, JULY 7. The State Government has finalised a Rs. 104- crore hotel projects for Northern Karnataka to
tap the growing tourist potential in that region.
Under the projects, three four-star hotels and five three-star hotels with 75-room capacity each will be set up
in eight tourist spots in the region.
The projects also envisage setting up of a tourist complex at Gadag and another in the Bhuntanala village in Bijapur
and a heritage village on a 100-Acre land at Bagalkot.
While the four-star hotels will be established at Belgaum (Belligavi), Hubli (Rayapura) and Hospet (Kamalapur),
the three- star hotels will come up in Bijapur (Bhuntanala), Badami (Cholachagudda), Hospet (Kamalapur), Gulbarga
(Kotnur) and Bidar (Humnabad, also with guest house facility).
The Government has made available 23 acres of land for building tourist hotels in these places and has identified
100 acres of land at Bagalkot for the proposed heritage village.
The Minister for Tourism, Mr. R. Roshan Baig told TheHindu that the Government would provide the infrastructure
to promoters to set up these hotels. He said more than adequate government land was available at the identified
places. Promoters could either select from the available lands or locate private lands. The Tourism Department
would render all assistance in land acquisition, he added.
Mr. Baig said that Northern Karnataka had several towns offering a chain of imposing forts, resplendent temples
and magnificent mosques and breathtaking monuments of varied architectural styles.
He said the two World Heritage Centres - Hampi and Pattadakal - were located in the Northern Tourist Circuit of
Karnataka. Other equally attractive tourist centres in the region are Badami, Aihole, Bijapur, Gulbarga, Bidar,
Basavakalyan, Humnabad, Gokak Falls, Kittur and Lakkundi.
Mr. Baig said that Karnataka's Islamic dynasties, which held sway over the northern region for five centuries,
had left behind a rich legacy of magnificent mosques, tombs, forts and palaces mainly in Bijapur, Bidar and Gulbarga
regions, and some of these monuments had attracted world attention.
He said the French were the most frequent tourists to this region followed by the Germans and the Australians.
Most of the high spending tourists were the ones with special interest in art, architecture and history. Well-known
museum groups, sponsored by internationally-reputed institutions such as the Smithsonian institution, invariably
included the tour of Northern Karnataka in their itinerary.
Foreign tourists apart, inflow of Indian tourists was expected to increase rapidly in the future. It was this factor
that had made the Tourism Department speed up work on providing the infrastructure. The Government had proposed
to invest Rs. 860 crores.
Mr. Baig said that a study by his department had felt the need for setting up luxury hotels as it was estimated
that the foreign tourists would be spending about Rs. 2,500 to Rs. 3,000 each per day on food and accommodation.
Only such hotels could provide comfort to high-spending tourists.
He said the tourist complex was meant for middle-class domestic tourists and backpackers among foreign tourists.
It would provide food and accommodation at reasonable rates.
The proposed heritage village at Kudalasangama in Bagalkot would provide not only facilities to the tourist but
also reflect the culture and lifestyle of the region. The proposed hotel project was bound to make Northern Karnataka
an attractive destination to foreign and domestic tourists, he added.
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