kolhapur the multicrore investments in the hospitality sector have got the hotel industry rallying for boost in tourism but poor public infrastructure and apathy of authorities towards heritage sites may hinder the sectors growth over the coming years in the last one year the city has seen investment of approximately rs 200 crore in the hospitality infrastructure with the hope that the tourist footfalls will increase over the coming years the city has seen a steady inflow of five lakh tourists every year and efforts are needed to tap the citys tourism potential historians claim that public authorities have neglected the tourism potential of the city and demand that heritage buildings should be maintained and excursions planned around the such tourist destinations maharashtra tourism development corporation mtdc reports a significant footfall at the mahalakshmi temple rankala lake and new palace museum meena potdar coordinator for the course of tourism and travel run by shivaji university said only a handful of historical and heritage sites have been explored from tourism potential a large number of interesting heritage sites are lying in neglect and may turn to ruins in a few years most tourists dont know the destinations and historical sites unique to the city for example tourists visiting mahalakshmi temple do not know about the firstofitskind wrestling stadium located a stones throw away a small initiative of setting up tourist information centre at the temple would go a long way in creating awareness she said the heritage sites of bindu chowk khasbaugh wrestling stadium paanyacha khajina bramhapuris old church sathmari ground and jaiprabha studio have remained unexplored each of these sites has unique historical significance and needs to be developed through renovations recently the kolhapur municipal corporation kmc has undertaken the work to give a facelift to keshavrao bhosale natyagruha and khasbaugh wrestling stadium through rs 10 crore sanctioned by the state government we have started a website to promote the citys rich heritage however since these spots are often deserted and lack tourist facilities few are interested in visiting them the authorities should introduce tour buses and develop a tourist circuit to promote these sites said potdar city hoteliers have started providing information about important places in the city their significance and even offer planned tours for one and two days however the plans include the popular tourist destinations of mahalakshmi temple shalini palace rankala lake new palace bhavani mandap and town hall museum city hotelier prasad kamat said joint effort from the government authorities and the hospitality sector is needed to develop the tourist spots most tourists visiting the city make plans for one or two days owing to the few options available experts have pegged the number of daily visitors to the city at 125 lakh people this number can be increased by providing proper facilities and travel options several attempts at drafting the tourism plan have been made and sent to the government for sanction in the vision document for citys development prepared by the kmc it