Mysuru to Mark World Tourism Day with Dasara-Style Grand Procession

Mysuru will celebrate World Tourism Day on Sunday with a grand procession that seeks to recreate the splendour of the Dasara festival, the city's signature annual event. The procession will set off from the Mysuru Palace premises and travel along Sayyaji Rao Road to Highway Circle.

Announcing the plans at a press conference in Mysuru on Thursday, C. Narayana Gowda, Chairperson of the World Tourism Day Celebrations Committee 2026 and President of the Hotel Owners' Association of Mysuru, said the line-up would include elephants, tableaux, police bands and mounted police, along with a range of folk and cultural troupes.

Among the participants will be Tibetan and Kodava cultural troupes, Dollu Kunitha performers, horse-drawn carriages and the Ambari bus. Hoteliers, a key segment of the city's tourism economy, have been urged to join in strength with banners representing their establishments.

World Tourism Day falls on September 27, ahead of this year's Mysuru Dasara, which will be held from October 11 to 21. Organisers said the procession is intended to give a fresh push to tourism in the city by borrowing the visual grandeur of Dasara.

The event at the Palace also aims to introduce Mysuru's cultural heritage to visitors from across India and abroad, and to bring together everyone connected, directly or indirectly, with the tourism trade on a common platform.

Tourists arriving at the Mysuru Palace on World Tourism Day will be welcomed at 10 a.m. with roses and sweets, an gesture meant to offer every visitor a hospitable experience and reflect the tradition of Atithi Devo Bhava.

Mr. Gowda noted that Mysuru's tourism sector sustains the livelihoods of hotels, restaurants, tourist vehicle operators, guides, traders, artists, attractions and allied businesses. Through this year's celebrations, organisers hope to convey the message of "Mysuru — a city of hospitality, culture and heritage" to domestic and international tourists.

The programme is expected to be attended by Tourism Minister K.J. George, Minister in-charge of Mysuru district Yathindra Siddaramaiah, Mysuru-Kodagu MP Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, MLAs T.S. Srivatsa, G.T. Deve Gowda, Tanveer Sait and Harish Gowda, along with senior Tourism Department and Palace Board officials and Advisor to the Tourism Minister Santrupta.