Mysuru needs to look beyond Zoo, KRS, Palace to retain tourists, says Hotel Owners Association

Mysore/Mysuru: Hoteliers of Mysuru have expressed their displeasure over the raw deal given to the city by the BJP Government — which is in power both at the Centre and State — in the State Budget. They are miffed with the fact that the ambitious and the much-touted Film City project has been taken off from Mysuru and has been granted to Bengaluru.

At a meeting of Mysuru Hotel Owners Association held yesterday at the Association office in Krishnamurthypuram, Association President C. Narayanagowda said that the previous Congress Government headed by Siddharamaiah had earmarked hundred acres of land for the Film City Project at Immavu village coming under Varuna Assembly constituency, which was welcomed whole-heartedly by the people of Mysuru. 

But the Budget presented recently by Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa has granted the tourist-centric project to Bengaluru. “This is unfortunate and Mysuru’s loss has become Bengaluru’s gain,” he lamented. 

“The State Government has ignored the City and Mysuru has got a raw deal. It was expected of the State Government to announce Film City to Mysuru which is a long-pending demand. Also, Mysuru is one of the most important tourist destinations in South India and is the ideal place for setting up the Film City. But Chief Minister Yediyurappa barely mentioned about it and granted the project to Bengaluru. Not just this. Even the Mysore Airport runway expansion was not even mentioned in the Budget while Mysuru-Kodagu MP Pratap Simha had promised about the runway expansion. It is unfortunate that political representatives from this region are quiet about it. They do not seem to care about the city’s  prospects,” he regretted and was supported by the Association members.

The Association urged the Government to keep the Film City project in the district considering Mysuru’s potential as a popular destination and its many other strengths. “The Government must make up its mind and not create confusion by shifting the project to Bengaluru. The land has been kept ready in Mysuru and the Budget allocation has been made by the previous Siddharamaiah Government. At this stage, no attempt should be made to relocate the project,” the Association members said. 

Narayanagowda and hotelier Prakash mentioned that old tourism models like Mysuru Zoo, Krishna Raja Sagar (KRS) Dam and other tourist places are not compelling enough for youngsters and tourists to visit and stay. “These tourist places are enough for a day’s visit. We need more attractive places for the tourists to stay in Mysuru for at least a week or two. At present, Mysuru is used as a transit point for a day’s stay before tourists proceed to hill stations like Ooty, Kodagu and Chikkamagaluru,” they said.  

“We need to look beyond Mysuru Palace (Amba Vilas), Zoo or Jaganmohan Palace to boost its tourism prospects. At least 65 percent of the people in the district are dependent on tourism. Now they are disappointed. The State Government has set aside Rs. 500 crore for tourism. This is our only hope and a saving grace,” they said.

“Shifting of Film City to Bengaluru has become a worry for the industry which was hoping to cash-in on the facility for tourism promotion. The Government must start work on the project at the earliest in Mysuru itself,” the Association demanded.

Association members N.S. Gopalakrishna, Bhaskar Shetty, Murali, Rajeev, Harsha, Krishna Tanthri, Maridevaru, Girish, Ravi Shastry, Subramanya Tanthri, Suresh Ugraiah, Prakash Shetty, Mahesh Kamath, Anand Shetty, P.N. Kunder, Ashish Gupta, Sanjay, Mahadevu, Ratheesh and H.P. Chandrashekhar attended the meeting.