Safari shutdown: Year-end tourism activities take a hit

Tourism bodies push for strict SOP and swift reopening of Nagarahole-Bandipur safaris

Mysore/Mysuru: Hotel Owners’ Association, Mysuru Travels Association, the Mysuru chapter of Skal International, and workers dependent on the Nagarahole and Bandipur safari economy have urged the State Government to immediately restart safari operations in Kabini (Nagarahole) and Bandipur, stressing that safaris are a major pillar of Mysuru’s tourism industry.

Addressing a press conference at Sandesh The Prince Hotel last evening, the associations said the Government must frame a strict Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) and allow safaris to resume without further delay.

Mysuru Travels Association President B.S. Prashanth said that despite being central to Mysuru’s tourism economy, safaris have remained suspended for weeks. A formal appeal has already been submitted to the Forest Minister and brought to the notice of the Chief Minister and the District Minister, he said.

Peak year-end tourism hit

With the peak year-end tourist season underway and foreign tourists arriving in large numbers, the suspension has disrupted travel itineraries, leading international travel agencies to express dissatisfaction with Mysuru’s tourism preparedness, he noted.

Prashanth said the ban has dealt a serious blow to Karnataka’s tourism sector, arguing that human–wildlife conflict exists across the world and its intensity here is comparatively low. The issue, he said, could have been resolved within a week, but a lack of serious deliberation has prolonged it.

Instead of cancelling safaris, he urged the Government to issue a stringent SOP — fixing a cap on vehicles, limiting the number of guests each resort can send and regulating the                             number of safari trips based on resort capacity.

Question of illegal resorts

Responding to media questions, he said they had no information about illegal resorts. “If any resort is illegal, can departments remain silent until the building is completed? Speculation is not correct. If there is illegality, let the government act. Our only concern is that tourism should not suffer,” Prashanth said and clarified that neither he nor office-bearers own resorts.

Mysuru Hotel Owners’ Association President C. Narayanagowda said that only 50 to 75 km of the vast forest region is used for safari routes and nearly 90 percent of employees in resorts  were the  children of farmers.

MLAs must intervene

He urged H.D. Kote and Gundlupet MLAs to intervene and questioned why safaris were cancelled without stakeholder discussions. Since the CM represents Mysuru region, he should see that the ban is lifted, he opined.

Narayanagowda added that tourist arrivals in Mysuru have dropped sharply. Of the 10,500 available rooms, only about 2,500 are being booked daily — a decline directly linked to the safari suspension, as visitors typically tour the Palace, Zoo and Chamundi Hill before heading to Bandipur and Nagarahole.