Vol. 4, Issue 10, Part C (2018)

Abstract
Tourism industry is one of fast growing industry in the world. It is an industry that has assumed global proportions. The importance of tourism to economic development has been recognized widely due to its contribution to the balance of payments, GDP and employment. Since last few years, Karnataka tourism industry has been growing at a rapid pace and it has vast potential for generating employment and earning large amount of foreign exchange. Karnataka state is known for its rich culture and scenic beauty. It has immense tourism potential to attract foreign tourist’s as well domestic tourist all over the world. There are many tourist destinations which are untapped and which can be developed as major tourist destinations. The present study makes an attempt to analyse the multi-faceted growth and development of Karnataka tourism industry. The tourism sector is making a significant march towards the economic development. The growth in travel and tourism directly or indirectly helps in the improvement of the socio-economic conditions of other factors such as hotels, resorts, guides, travel and tour operators etc. Thus, the tourism sector needs to be properly tuned in such a way that both central and state should make an attempt of improving Karnataka state as one of tourist destination with proper policies. Therefore, in the development of the tourism sector, the role of states in the democratic set-up of India needs to be recognized. Tourism creates thousands of jobs and benefits the entire community. Tourism helps to preserve ancient cultures & handicrafts, which otherwise would have been lost in the relentless march of industrialization. Thus, there is scope to study and identify the development of the state, supporting industries, income earned by the region and infrastructural facilities the Government has to make are all taken into the observation under the study.