Bengaluru: Karnataka tourism minister CT Ravi is mulling over allowing casinos in the state as one of the ways to attract more tourists. Among the several measures that could boost tourism, casino "guarantees" to attract tourists, he said.
"There has been no discussion on this as yet. People go to Las Vegas, Phuket, Sri Lanka, Goa and spend our money there. Our revenue is lost there. If we can stop people from going, I support that but we can't do that. Instead, we need to find a way to have the money circulate here itself, generate jobs here," said CT Ravi.
"I have pointed out to what attracts tourists to these places. In our state, we don't need to create anything. We only need to promote what we have. We can have village tourism, season tourism, heritage tourism, food tourism that would all attract tourists. Among the many things, casinos guarantee to attract tourists," he added.
Congress leader HK Patil, however, said this is against the state's culture.
"It is wrong even if minister Ravi is thinking about it. Attracting people to gambling is not our culture. Karnataka cannot be developed like Thailand. Karnataka can be developed like Karnataka only," said Patil.
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