Karnataka moots unique mine tourism concept

Karnataka Government has mooted a unique mine tourism concept by converting the closed Kolar Gold Fields (KGF) near Bangalore into a “Mine Experiential Tourism Destination”.

Delivering an address on the Government of Karnataka’s tourism projects at the Tourism Expo 2006, Karnataka’s Principal Secretary to the Department of Tourism L Shantakumari said a feasibility study to convert the mines spread across 1,000 acres of land at KGF into a tourist destination was underway.

“It will probably the first of its kind in India”, she said adding that tourists will be taken around the mines in KGF for a unique experience.

Claiming that Karnataka was emerging as a promising tourist destination during the last few years for both domestic as well as foreign tourists, Shantakumar said Karnataka ranks fourth in the country in domestic tourist arrivals and fifth in foreign tourist arrivals.

During the period ranging from April 2005 to February 2006, a total of 30 million domestic tourists and 300,000 foreign tourists had visited Karnataka, she said. In the next next one year, the Government is planning to attract 40 million domestic tourists and 500,000 foreign tourists by giving a thrust to tourism development in the State.

Also, a special luxury train on the lines of Palace on Wheels will be launched in Karnataka at a cost of Rs 320 million by August 2007, she said.