Govt. to build ‘Karnataka Mantapa’ modeled after ‘Bharat Mandapam’: CM Shivakumar

Chief Minister, D.K. Shivakumar said, “The government is considering constructing a ‘Karnataka Mantapa’—modeled after Delhi’s ‘Bharat Mandapam’—near a metro station at locations such as Jakkur, Mysore Lamps, or NGEF.”

He was speaking after inaugurating the first-ever Karnataka Tourism Awards ceremony, held at Palace Grounds on Sunday to mark World Tourism Day. It was organised by the Department of Tourism and Karnataka Tourism Society (KTS) to recognise and felicitate various stakeholders contributing to Tourism sector.

For the first time, these awards were given under 35 different categories including best business hotel, eco-friendly resort, best educational institute in tourism, rural tourism project, wellness retreat, tourism startup and others. Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar presented the awards to winners.

Addressing the awardees on the occasion of World Tourism Day, K.J. George, Minister for Energy and Tourism said, “Tourism must move beyond digital marketing towards a fully connected digital ecosystem that improves the entire visitor experience.”

Mr. George added, “We should use Artificial Intelligence not merely to make tourism smarter, but to make it more inclusive, sustainable and meaningful. The benefits of this transformation must reach not only large companies, but also homestay owners, tourist guides, artisans, small entrepreneurs and young people.”

While highlighting that AI-based tourism services could help visitors create personalised itineraries based on their interests, travel duration and requirements, provide multilingual information and connect them with recognised tourism service providers, he said that the Tourism Department is working towards developing such technology-driven solutions.