Move To Woo Tourists With Theme Park

Namaskara, welcome to Bangalore
Move To Woo Tourists With Theme Park, Other Attractions
The Times of India

Bangalore: Soon, brand Bangalore might attract tourists on its own, rather than just play host to those in transit.
The first step towards this has been the state government’s clearance for two mega projects last week — a Rs 348 crore Heritage Theme Park near Vasanthpura and a Rs 143 crore digital film studio near Bidadi.

The theme park, to be established by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Iskcon) will have religion, culture and tradition for its theme. It proposes to replicate the technology used in Disneyworld in US to convey the Puranas, trace the birth and life of Lord Krishna, dungeons of Hiranyakashipu and the famous Narasimha story.

The park will be equipped with a 4D theatre, a musical fountain, an aqua screen, theatre of performing arts with a revolving stage where over 100 artistes can perform, a petting zone for children, a story corner and a massive food court with varieties of Indian food, monorail and ropeway.

On the other hand, the film studio is expected to be ultimate in modern technology, combining production facilities and entertainment. The complex will have a multiplex, funplex apart from film studios and an institute.

“The promoters want to model it on the famous Universal Studios of Los Angeles, the world’s largest film studio theme park, whose current crowd-puller is ‘Revenge of the Mummy’ theme ride,’’ sources said.

“These two projects, when complete, will become Bangalore’s mega attractions and will dramatically increase the city’s tourism potential. We are very aware of the benefits of tourism and we are trying to clear whatever projects come to us,’’ industries minister P.G.R. Sindhia said.

In tandem, the tourism department is cranking up its plans to develop Nandi Hills by setting up entertainment for children and adults as well as a ropeway. Meanwhile, it is also trying to project the central part of Bangalore (about 1 km radius around Vidhana Soudha) as a tourism district.

“Tourist inflows into Bangalore are large, but most of these are only in transit and are headed to other places like Mysore or Hampi, or are essentially business travellers. As of now, there’s nothing to hold them here and unless they stay in Bangalore, tourism per se will not benefit. We want to change that by setting up attractions in the city,’’ tourism commissioner Mahendra Jain said.

“We are facing stiff competition from neighbouring states and countries in the Asia Pacific region. We can harness Bangalore’s image as an IT destination and bring in tourists, if proper facilities are put in place,’’ industry sources said.

Numbers say a lot

Domestic tourist inflows into Karnataka grew by over 25 per cent last year compared to the same period previous year.
Foreign arrivals grew at around 15 per cent.
But less than a quarter of these tourists spent substantial time in Bangalore.