No blanket ban on tourism is being imposed across Mysuru (Mysore) said the district&rsquos minister in charge ST Somashekar recently.

With Karnataka&rsquos Kodagu district implementing a ban which shut all tourist places in the district to visitors in early April, the tourism stakeholders in Karnataka started worrying about business. With several holidays in April, tourists are likely to travel to Mysore and Coorg as part of a circuit. Stakeholders feared the ban will hamper tourist arrivals. Also, it might encourage other districts to follow suit.

Media reports quoted minister Somashekar as saying that there will be no blanket ban on tourism but there may be restrictions to ensure there is no large gathering of people and to prevent the spread of the pandemic.

The Kodagu district administration, on April 3, banned the entry of visitors to places of tourist importance in the district. Two days later, Kodagu Deputy Commissioner Charulatha Somal clarified that the ban will be in place till April 20 and would be only applicable to tourist destinations. As local and outstation visitors are likely to flock to these places during the holiday periods, the ban was implemented to prevent the spread of the pandemic. However, according to media reports, Somal later said that hotels, resorts and homestays would be allowed to function with all necessary precautions in place.

Kodagu district administration has also identified the specific routes taken by travellers from Kerala. Visitors from Kerala have to carry RT-PCR negative report not older than 72 hours to enter Kodagu district, the official circular said.

Meanwhile, the Karnataka government has implemented night curfew, till April 20 as of now, in Mysuru, Mangaluru, Kalaburagi, Bidar, Tumakuru and Udupi-Manipal.