Post-pandemic boost to Kodagu as helicopter tourism kicks in

A private operator flies in tourists from Bengaluru to a village resort close to Tadiandamol

Even as successive governments continue to dilly-dally over launching heli-tourism for high-end tourists despite umpteen promises, Kodagu has taken the first step towards giving a start to the initiative post-pandemic with local stakeholders taking the lead and kick starting the much-talked-about initiative.

A group of tourists from Bengaluru landed in a chopper at a village to explore Coorg’s splendour, staying in a resort located close to one of the highest points in Kodagu - Tadiandamol. These tourists, instead of taking the 6-hour drive to Madikeri from the IT Hub, chose to fly by a chopper owned and run by a private operator to reach the hill station.

In fact, Kodagu was also identified along with Mysuru for developing heli-ports by the Tourism Department which did not take off. However, an entrepreneur in the hospitality sector in Kodagu, Apparanda Sagar Ganapathy, who runs a resort at Kakkabe, coordinated with the chopper operator to ferry guests to his property where a helicopter landing facility was established recently at the resort to facilitate heli-tourism.