Odisha Tourism takes offerings on the road

Odisha Tourism takes offerings on the road
Avatar of Linda Hohnholz
Written by Linda Hohnholz

Speaking at a roadshow organized by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), Minister of Tourism for Odisha, Mr. Panigrahi, said: โ€œWe are especially focusing on segments like ecotourism, ethnic and handicrafts tourism, besides capitalizing on niche segments like heritage homestays and adventure tourism so that more tourists can explore the unexplored parts of Odisha – apart from the most popular destinations like Puri and Konark.

โ€œThe super-cyclone Fani battered Puri in May this year. But it could not dampen the enthusiasm and dedication of the Government of Mr. Naveen Patnaik and the people of Odisha to revive the destination and successfully conduct the grand Rath Yatra.โ€

The Minister led a delegation to Kolkata for the Odisha Tourism Roadshow yesterday, explaining that Odisha has a huge untapped tourism potential and the state government is taking measures to unlock that potential. The government has already expressed its intent to encourage investment in experiencing rich tourism products like houseboat tourism and caravan tourism.

Odisha’s present campaign has successfully concluded roadshows in Mumbai, New Delhi, and Kochi (Kerala), including rapid B2B networking meetings between travel, apart from select meetings with investors and brands looking to enter Odishaโ€™s tourism and hospitality sector.

Commissioner cum Secretary Mr. Vishal Kumar Dev highlighted the key offerings of Odisha across segments such as heritage tourism, ecotourism, ethnic tourism, and spiritual tourism among others. Mr. Dev, also in charge of the Sports & Youth Services Department, is known to have led Odishaโ€™s emergence as Indiaโ€™s most vibrant sporting destination, a key factor for enhancing the stateโ€™s global brand image and pushing up foreign tourist arrivals.

โ€œBhubaneswar, one of Indiaโ€™s smartest and most livable cities, is being increasingly connected to other parts of India and the world. It is this city which received commendations from the sporting worldโ€™s whoโ€™s who for conducting arguably the best sporting events ever in the form of the Odisha Menโ€™s Hockey World Cup 2018, following the stellar organization of the Asian Athletics Championships 2017. With this yearโ€™s successful organization of the Commonwealth Table Tennis Championship and the much-anticipated FIFA U-17 Womenโ€™s Football World Cup 2020, we hope to preserve the global spotlight on Indiaโ€™s Best Kept Secret,โ€ said Mr. Dev.

Among the key recent initiatives taken by the Tourism Department of Odisha are:

  1. Development of a beach city over 1,500 acres at Shamuka Beach across the river Mangala in Puri.

 

  1. Investments in houseboats and water sports & recreation facilities at several sites, the key being Bhitarkanika, Chilika lake and Hirakud Reservoir.

 

  1. Master Planning for development of Talasari Udaypur Beach adjacent to Digha at a cost of over Rs 100 crore, over a stretch of 2 km.

 

  1. Development of the Buddhist Heritage Circuit comprising Ratnagiri-Udayagiri-Lalitgiri (Jajpur), Dhauli and Jirang Monastery through international collaborations.

 

  1. Upgrade of Odisha’s ecotourism sector comprising 40 properties across 19 protected areas (including 2 national parks) to cater to high-end tourists. It is noteworthy that Odisha recently won an award for India’s best Ecotourism Initiative of Community-managed ecotourism. Two projects in Simlipal National Park and Satkosia Tiger Reserve earned revenues of over Rs 1 crore in FY 19, a chunk of which was retained by the local communities.

Odisha, which witnessed 1.5 crore tourist footfalls in 2018, hopes to see the numbers rise to over 2.5 crore in 2021. The state boasts some exciting tourist circuits including diverse wildlife tours across 19 protected areas including two national parks, an enigmatic Buddhist circuit, apart from the spiritually exhilarating Golden Triangle Heritage Circuit of Bhubaneswar โ€“ Puri โ€“ Konark.

Among the key initiatives of the Department of Tourism is its virtual tourism drive, centered on its award-winning website odishatourism.gov.in. Built on the Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) platform, its capabilities in stakeholder engagement, multimedia information management and analytics Odisha Tourism hopes to reach a wider national and global audience with greater accuracy and attract larger numbers of medium and high-spending tourists. The website offers a portal for travel agents and hoteliers to register and publish their Odisha packages.

The Kolkata roadshow assumes key significance since its residents contribute 14% of Odishaโ€™s annual tourist visits. Entrepreneurs and investors based in Kolkata and other parts of West Bengal will likely be key players in Odishaโ€™s quest to maximize its tourism experiences through niche tourism products.

About the author

Avatar of Linda Hohnholz

Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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