In its efforts to attract increasing number of tourists to Karnataka, the state tourism department is planning to offer special flight packages during the forthcoming Mysore Dasara Festival (October 8-17, 2010).

“I have directed the Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation (KSTDC) to look into whether we can offer special concessional packages to tourists from cities other than Bengaluru. The proposed special concessional packages would be inclusive of every thing such as accommodation, food and transportation,” said K Jothiramalingam, Principal Secretary (Tourism), Karnataka.

“This year in January, during the Hampi Festival, we arranged such packages for tourists from Chennai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru, which proved quite a success. Now we want to replicate the same during the Mysore Dasara Festival,” added Jothiramalingam.

Besides Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai, Pune is one of the stations from Maharashtra that the state tourism authorities are planning to offer special flight packages for the Mysore Dasara Festival. “Since only ATRs can be operated in and out of the Mysore Airport, we may also look at operating these charter services from Pune,” added Jothiramalingam. Karnataka has of late emerged as a gateway to the south and offers host of destinations to tourists from across segments.