Expectations run high ahead of state budget

Shilpa P | NT

Ahead of the state budget, Mysuru, being a major hub for tourism and yoga, stakeholders of the tourism and hospitality sectors as well as the yoga fraternity of the heritage have high expectations. They are expecting allocation of funds for their long-pending demands including establishment of Mysore Tourism Development Authority (especially to revive Mysuru tourism hit by Covid), Dasara Authority, Yoga University and Research Centre, Film City among others.

President of Mysuru Hotel Owners’ Association, C Narayangowda said that while Mysuru has huge tourism potential with over 115 tourism spots in and around the city, there has to be allocation of funds in the state budget for establishment of Mysuru Tourism Development Authority to promote tourism in Mysuru. This will help revive Mysuru tourism, especially when tourism and hospitality sectors have been hit badly in the past two years due to Covid and, 70 per cent of the people in Mysuru who depend on tourism and hospitality have suffered a lot,” he said.

He added that, Government must allot funds for establishment of film city in Mysuru. Since, Mysuru district has several attractive shooting locales, where several films have been shot, so the film city would not just help film fraternity but it will also generate employment and attract tourists Mr Narayangowda said.

“The State Government must allot funds in the budget to establish Dasara Authority to plan programmes for the world famous Dasara Festival, which will help promotional activities of Dasara at national and international levels,” he said

SKAL Inter national Mysuru, an association of travel and tourism professionals, President Prashanth B S, said that the government must also allot funds in the budget for restoration of all heritage structures in Mysuru,” he said.

Yoga could do with budget thrust
President of Federation of Yoga Institutes of Mysuru, Srihari D said, “We hope that the state government will make allocation of funds for this in the upcoming budget. There are 500 yoga institutes and 1,000 yoga teachers as well as nearly 50,000 students including over 1,000 foreigners learning yoga from them, either online or offl ine. And, it was Krishnamacharya (yoga guru of Maharaja of Mysuru Sri Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar), and his student, BKS Iyengar, both from Mysuru, who fi rst took yoga across the globe.