Mysuru: During the campaign for the May 2014 Lok Sabha polls, BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi (now Prime Minister) had promised to make Mysuru a global tourist destination and said, “Mysuru will draw tourists like Paris.”
It is September 2018 now and though the promise of drawing tourists to Mysuru like Paris remains a distant dream, Mysuru being a global tourist destination has reached stakeholders in Paris, thanks to a team of officials from Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation (KSTDC), Jungle Lodges and Resorts (JLR) and Karnataka Tourism Minister S.R. Mahesh who are showcasing Mysuru at IFTM – International French Travel Market – Paris.
The IFTM International French Travel Market – Top Resa being conducted from Sept. 25 to Sept. 28 at Paris Expo Porte de Versailles is one of the leading travel and tourism trade shows in France and held annually. It is the key trade event and includes all the players in the travel sector — from tour operators and travel agencies to coach operators, airlines, event agencies. At IFTM Top Resa visitors can get comprehensive information, compare offers and get to know latest developments and trends.
At the event, the City of Mysuru, its royalty and the forthcoming Dasara celebrations have been showcased by the Karnataka team. Accompanied by KSTDC Managing Director Kumar Pushkar, Tourism Department Director B. Ramu, Managing Director of JLR Vijay Sharma, Minister Mahesh visited the stalls and kiosks set up at the venue and publicised Mysuru and its specialities.
Sharing his experiences at IFTM, Mahesh told Star of Mysore that it was a global event where key tourism players are involved. “Many representatives from developed countries are showcasing the tourism potential of their respective lands. Karnataka too is participating in the event in a big way where the forthcoming Dasara, its historical background, main attractions and must-visit destinations have been publicised,” he said.
IFTM Top Resa is the leading showcase for the entire tourism industry and a multi-sector event for both international and French markets, with leisure, business, MICE and group tourism all together under one roof. “After the event concludes on Sept. 28, we will take part in rallies and road shows at London and Glasgow. There too, Dasara will be publicised,” Mahesh said.
At the event, delegates are given an opportunity to meet the targeted audience, boost revenue and develop new business, enhance brand image, keep abreast of market developments and trends and schedule meetings with decision-makers.
More than 300 business-travel buyers from all over France and across the world are attending the event.
Paris attracts so many streets because of the high quality tourist facilities. Paris unlike Mysore, does not have stray dogs wandering in streets, does not have aggressive beggars, has clean drinking water safe to drink straight from the taps, the bottled water sold is genuinely from the springs as mentioned on bottles unlike India where it is often from taps, no filthy streets or restaurants, has excellent metro to reach all tourist destinations, its taxi drivers do not fleece tourists , and above all, its historic places of interests are kept clean and tidy. Unlike Mysore or any Indian tourist destinations in India, no tourist from overseas gets very ill , after visiting Paris. Modi is simply a fool and a deluded man.
Correction: ” attracts so many tourists..”
“..At the event, the City of Mysuru, its royalty and the forthcoming Dasara celebrations have been showcased by the Karnataka team. Accompanied by KSTDC Managing Director Kumar Pushkar, Tourism Department Director B. Ramu, Managing Director of JLR Vijay Sharma, Minister Mahesh visited the stalls and kiosks set up at the venue and publicised Mysuru and its specialities”
Here we go, typical Indian delegation ( no other Western country which attracts large number of tourists send delegations of officials and politicians), consisting of officials and minister , taking this event opportunity to visit Paris, spend the tax payers money on expensive hotels and food, and merrily go shopping to buy presents for themselves and their families. Should be interesting to follow this up and find out how many Parisians visit Mysore.. Probably no one.