Tourists head to Karnataka’s hill stations; avoid heritage hotspots

Quite evidently, the pandemic has thrown global tourism into chaos, and the situation in Karnataka – which is well-known for its architectural wonders and scenic natural hotspots – is no different from the rest of the world. Even as India enters Unlock 2.0, the fear of contracting the virus has kept people away from most tourist destinations.

Visited by millions of tourists from across the country and abroad every year, the heritage city of Mysuru has taken a toll.There has been a drastic drop in footfall in all its major attractions. And this is happening despite precautionary measures being strictly maintained at all these tourism hotspots in the city. Mysore Palace is witnessing about 100 to 150 tourists daily. Right now, children below the age of 10 years and adults above 65 years are not allowed inside the palace.
According to HP Janardhan – Deputy Director of Department of Tourism – the situation is not yet ideal to introduce any tourism packages to attract visitors. “We were supposed to launch double-decker buses in Mysuru to give people a tour of palaces and the zoo among other places, but the plan is put on hold due to the Covid-19 outbreak,” he adds.
TS Subramanya, Deputy Director of Mysore Palace Board, says, “We usually record large numbers of tourists from Tamil Naidu, Kerala, Maharashtra, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. But the surge in positive cases has reduced the count.”
Adding to that, Ajith M Kulkarni – Director of Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens (Mysuru Zoo) – says, “Over the past few weeks, several safety and hygiene measures have been taken, so that visitors start visiting the zoo again. But given the fear psychosis, nothing seems to be working in our favour at the moment. In fact, instead of Tuesdays, we now keep the zoo closed on Sundays, when there is a complete lockdown in the city. Even this has not helped much, though.”

The situation doesn’t seem to be so bleak in the hill stations of Karnataka. Located in Chikkamagaluru, Mullayanagiri – which is the highest peak in the state – saw traffic snarls last weekend. This, however, created quite a stir among the local people, who protested against the tourist inflow, and demanded that authorities maintain strict vigil to keep the spread of the virus under check.
Meanwhile, many people turned up in Kodagu, too – from corporate employees to celebrities. Actors Diganth, Aindrita Ray, Ekta Rathod and Nikhil Kumaraswamy were spotted there, while cinematographer Bhuvan Gowda and musician-actor All.OK shared pictures of their Coorg vacation on social media.

Places located in North Karnataka – like Gol Gumbaz, Hampi, Badami, Aihole and Pattadakal – remain shut for tourists.

There were high hopes among stakeholders in tourism that there would be a revival once the lockdown was lifted, but the recent spike in Coronavirus cases in the state has dampened all the spirit. “With bookings still being meagre, we are finding it difficult to pay salaries to our staff. If the situation doesn’t improve at least during the festive season, our existence will be under threat,” says Sachin Kumar, a tour operator.