If you love entertaining guests at home, first ensure that they feel — and are — safe and comfortable at your place. If they feel threatened, insecure or uncomfortable due to actions on your part, rest assured that a word will go around, and they will think more than twice about revisiting you.
The phrase Atithi Devo Bhava gains significance from this simple fact, that your actions must make the guests feel safe and special — like gods. Only then will they look forward to visiting you again, and even suggest it to others.
The same principle works on a larger scale for tourism. We make the tourists — domestic and foreign — feel special, comfortable and safe, and rest assured Karnataka tourism would grow with them spreading the word around among family and friends, besides themselves planning revisits.
However, the March 6 night horror in Koppal in which two women — a local homestay owner and an Israeli tourist — were allegedly gangraped by three local miscreants, goes smack against that. They came to enjoy Hampi and Karnataka, riding on the state’s tourism motto “One State, Many Worlds”, but ended up with their worlds being shattered.
The two victims were a part of a group of domestic and foreign tourists who were out star-gazing late in the night when they were confronted by the miscreants. Three male friends of the victims — two Indians and an American — who had rushed to their rescue, were assaulted and thrown into the Tungabhadra canal. While one Indian and the American tourist swam back to safety, the third, a domestic tourist from Odisha, drowned as he did not know how to swim.
The three accused have been arrested, but it is not a closure. In another case, also last week and again in Hampi, another Israeli woman tourist was allegedly molested by miscreants.
These cases should come as eye-openers: What kind of message are we allowing to be conveyed to the world? What impact will it have on Karnataka tourism?
There are two ways to increase the safety of tourists. One is direct action by the state government; the other is increasing tourist safety awareness among the local people.
As far as the first is concerned, the state government has brought homestays under the scanner, mandating each and every one of them to get registered after due clearances. Tourists, especially foreign tourists, have also been asked to inform the local police about which places they are visiting and when, so they can be informed about the risk factors involved and how to ensure their own safety.
But the second is more challenging. How does one change people’s mindset towards tourists who, to the locals, are basically “outsiders”? It is a Herculean task to do so. Carnal approaches, especially towards fair-skinned female foreign tourists who hail from more liberal cultures; greed to make quicker bucks; Jingoism — communal, linguistic, regional, national and international — and extreme envy towards apparently better-to-do domestic and foreign tourists, fuel miscreants to indulge in such horrendous acts.
Although a vast majority of the population in the state is hospitable and empathetic towards the tourists and their safety requirements, the challenge is to identify those few who can adversely impact the image of Karnataka tourism by targeting tourists. Which is why, the state tourism department needs to undertake a massive campaign on spreading awareness among the public across the state, while also educating them about their own benefits if they encourage tourists to visit their regions while feeling safe.
But this also needs to be complemented by an adequately strong force dedicated to tourist protection — a function that cannot be heaped on the regular police force in the state, which is already crippled by a 17% manpower shortage.
The idea of setting up a tourist police force, especially near popular tourist destinations like Hampi, was floated a few years ago, but needs to be taken up now seriously. This could be considered with financial backing from corporate social responsibility funds of leading business houses.
Karnataka enjoys a 10% share of domestic tourists, and is among the top three destinations for domestic tourism, rising from 36.7 million in 2006 to 283.5 million in 2023. But the state’s foreign tourists share is just 6.4% and ranks 14th in the country.
Karnataka’s new tourism policy (2024-29) has an ambitious goal to double domestic tourist footfalls to 48 crore and increase foreign tourist arrivals to 20 lakh by 2029. It also aims to attract Rs 7,800 crore investment over the next five years.
The state can rightfully boast of historical sites, coastal areas, nature and wildlife, and adventure tourism. The new policy’s thematic focus is on promoting tourism through adventure, agriculture, caravan, coastal, beach, cuisine, cultural, traditional, environment, education, film, golf, sports, tribal, wedding destinations, and health.
While Karnataka tourism faces challenges like improving infrastructure, conserving archaeological monuments and marketing, an equal or more stress is needed on tourist safety, without which no other effort would bear fruit.
