The Hindu Business Line : ‘Natural capital, unique developmental models essential for tourism growth’

Mangalore, Feb. 5 Efficient use of natural capital and developmental models unique to the region are essential for the development of tourism industry in the country, said Mr B. Sambamurthy, Chairman and Managing Director of Corporation Bank.

Inaugurating the day-long ‘Tourism Conclave’, jointly organised by the Karnataka Tourism Department and Kanara Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), here on Tuesday, he said that tourism is the one industry that is peculiar from other industries.

What works for other industry may not work in the tourism industry. Most of the industries depend on human, knowledge and financial capitals. But what works for tourism industry is the natural capital, he said.

“Without natural capital, all other forms of capital that work in other industries will not work here. From that perspective Dakshina Kannada district offers wonderful potential for development of tourism,” he said.

Stating that Mangalore is witnessing a good number of natural footfalls because of the large number of educational institutions and pilgrim centres in the region, he said the challenge is to convert these footfalls into tourism.

“The personal related travel, the education related travel and the business related travel are growing here. This is one of the peculiar qualities of Mangalore as compared to others,” he said.

In such a situation, there is a need to develop different model for tourism development in the region. “Because we can’t follow blindly some models of tourism that works in other parts of the country,” he said.

Referring to the gap in potential and performance in tourism sector, Mr Sambamurthy said that this gap could be bridged with brand building, public private partnership and with the extensive use of Internet.

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