mysore dasara tourism subcommittee ksrtc and mysore travel agents association taa are going all out to encourage local tourism by offering mysore sightseeing package for visitors speaking about the firstofitskind initiative taa president b s prashanth who is also the panels vicepresident said we have worked out a package for tourists who cant afford to hire private taxi which is expensive to visit places in and around mysore with ksrtc we plan to run a ksrtc volvo bus from a specific point a guide will introduce the places to toursts their aim is to introduce lesserknown places like oriental research institute and jaganmohan palace to them along with places like mysore palace chamundi hills srirangapatna and krs we are working out the package cost for the daylong sightseeing programme during the festival in all probability we will launch the initiative this dasara season he added ksrtc urban divisional controller m n srinivas said to start with we will start the initiative with two volvo buses we are also ready to meet any demand in this regard meanwhile committee head d thimmaiah said that this time they are opening information kiosks at all dasara venues and at important places like mysore palace railway station and bus stand to help the visitors we have roped in 150 students to provide information about dasara events and tourists spots they will work in two shifts he added this apart about 25 tongas and sarots have been selected for dasara celebrations the riders will be given uniforms and mysore petas the tongas will take visitors around mysore palace and to tourist places at subsidized rates thimmaiah said they are yet to finalize fare for tonga ride groups of foreigners travel agents association president b s prashanth said that they had contacted nearly thousands of tour operators associations worldwide and mailed them invitations requesting them to send tourists to mysore for dasara as a result 20 groups from different countries like germany the us and singapore have confirmed their visit to the city each group comprises 1220 members prashanth claimed free accommodation the groups will be given traditional welcome upon their arrival to mysore we are also planning to provide them free accommodation with an aim to woo tourists from foreign nations prashanth said adding that the groups will be taken to houses in mysore where dasara dolls are kept as part of mane mane dasara programme prashanth said that they will soon mail the details of dasara to tour operators spread across the globe