BENGALURU: For the first time homestays, which are in huge demand across the state, will be rated by the tourism department based on their hygiene and facilities offered, Medium and Large Industries and Tourism Minister, R. V. Deshpande said on Thursday.
Addressing a session of Invest Karnataka – 2016, he revealed that rating agencies had been roped in for grading tourism properties in Karnataka. Based on their infrastructure, hygiene, connectivity and ambience the homestays on the coast, Chikmagalur and Kodagu will be given either gold or silver stars.
The homestays will be expected to apply to the tourism department for rating and will then be inspected by the rating agencies, which will award them the relevant stars on the official website of the tourism department.
Noting that the state’s coastline offered tremendous opportunity for tourism, the minister said 22 beaches had been identified in the state to develop a coastal circuit. “About Rs 50 crore has already been spent on the coastal circuit,” he added.
Pointing out that Karnataka had a lot to offer in heritage, adventure, eco,wildlife and religious tourism as well, he said it needed to cash in on its resources like Bali and Thailand. “Tourism is the biggest industry in the world. There is a vast scope for it in Karnataka and we need to make the most of it,” the minister added.
Guides at the tourist centres are being trained to speak in French, Italian, German, and Japanese to cater to people from different parts of the world. The tourism department has tied up with six different universities to make this possible, he revealed.
Also as many as 175 tourist mitras have been appointed to help foreign and domestic tourists and 250 more are being trained, according to him.
