In a bid to showcase tourist places in the State and its tourism potential to the world, the Department of Tourism and Karnataka Tourism Society have jointly organised a three-day Karnataka International Travel Expo in Bengaluru from Wednesday.

Addressing a press conference in Hubballi on Tuesday, Minister for Law, Justice, Human Rights, Paliamentary Affairs, Legislation and Tourism H.K. Patil said that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah will inaugurate the tourism expo.

Mr. Patil said that there are numerous tourist places and monuments in the State.

“We have over 25,000 unprotected monuments, while over 800 have been declared as protected. Our government has chalked out programmes for educating the younger generation about the significance of our cultural heritage and the need to protect the monuments. During the exposition, our culture, history, handicrafts, cuisines, dance forms, lifestyle, hospitality and others will be showcased,” he said.

The Minister said that the government has set a target of initiating of comprehensive tourism development in the State and the tourism expo is one among the initiatives.

“Karnataka is one among the very few States that are conducting B2B conclaves. Our initiative is being supported by the Union government and the Central Tourism Ministry is also participating in the exposition. The objective is to bring all the stakeholders under a single roof, facilitate deliberations so as to find solutions to address the challenges. Hoteliers, travel agencies, homestay owners, promoters of agri-tourism, tourist guides, woman entrepreneurs and all other stakeholders will participate in the expo,” he said.

The Minister said that Indian and foreign buyers have been selected through transparent competitive process. “After conducting interviews of 300 representatives from 36 nations, 110 foreign buyers and agents and over 15 from foreign travel media have been selected. Similarly, after interviewing 858 Indian vendors, 235 buyers and 20 from travel media have been selected,” he said.