Bangalore: The National Council of Applied Economic Research has named people from Karnataka as the top travellers in the country, with nearly 6.1 million from this state being part of the 33 million-strong travelling community.
Even though the "Bongs and Gujjus abound at all tourist places" theory was proven wrong by the survey results, several other widely held notions about domestic tourism seem to be right.
For instance, tourism as defined by leisure travel or holidaying, accounted for only 6 per cent of all travel out of town (or village) in the country.
Religious travel accounted for more than double at 13.8 per cent.
Sanjana Dandapani, a student, is busy planning her next trip. For the past 20 years she?s toured the length and breadth of most of South India and plans to go globetrotting as often as possible.
"I travel at least thrice a year. I am going to Chennai to be with my relatives and I recently visited Mysore with friends," Sanjana said.
Christmas vacations are round the corner and Kannadigas are all set to venture out again. For those taking short journeys, it?s back to the good old Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation.
There is a state bus to Mysore almost every five minutes from Bangalore, and buses to Tirupati are aplenty too for domestic travellers.
So why are Kannadigas travelling even when it?s not the holiday season?
"As for leisure travel segment, people have a lot of disposable income and airlines are also offering good fares," Shravan Gupta, MD, Travel Air Pvt Ltd., said.
"Traditionally, people go on holidays once a year, but Kannadigas don?t have that kind of a mind set. We normally take lots of getaways and breaks," Gupta added.
With the travel industry booming, it is the travel agents who are laughing all the way to the banks. And with the Haj season on, pilgrims are planning more trips too.
The number of Hajis has gone up from 4,200 in 2004 to 5,600 in 2005.
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