OdishaLIVE Bureau
Odisha Tourism Gears up for Odisha travel bazaar 2017 and organises the Second ground initiative at the business capital mumbai
‘Odisha Tourism’ hosted a unique road show in Mumbai today to connect the globe trotters with insights into the tourism potentials in Odisha. This is the 2nd such ground initiative by the department after Delhi, as a part of series of run-up to the mega event ‘Odisha Travel Bazaar’, scheduled for 15-17 October 2017 at Bhubaneswar, the temple city. This global event is conceptualized and executed in collaboration with leading industry body FICCI. Major hospitality groups, travel and tour operators, other key stakeholders and media were part of the event.
“We are at a point, in our endeavor of tourism development, where we are ready to make it into the big league of tourism, both nationally as well as internationally” said Ashok Chandra Panda, Minister for Tourism and Culture, Govt. of Odisha. “We will be taking up an aggressive publicity campaign. We are confident that such initiatives will help boost tourist arrivals, particularly foreign tourists to our state.” he addressed.
The state aims to boost tourism by establishing direct international air connectivity and by making provision for viability gap funding for international airline operators. The capital city Bhubaneswar is now connected to many international destinations via Kuala Lumpur and Delhi, which saw a sharp traffic increase since last one year.
“Odisha has all that a tourist would look for. From scenic mountains of the Eastern Ghats to the serene pristine beaches of our coast and to colourfully sublime heritage and culture. We have a great treasure trove of art, culture and historic monuments”, said Dr. Nitin B Jawale, Director of Tourism, Govt. of Odisha. “With the recent developments in air connectivity and improved road and rail infrastructure we are tourism ready. We can now cater to the ever increasing number of wide variety of tourists from different parts of the country and the world”, he added.
Present on the occasion were Mr. Deepak Mukhi, Head, FICCI-Maharashtra State Council, Mr. Rajan Sehgal, Member, FICCI Tourism Committee & Chairman, Northern Region, Mr. Manish Ahuja, Additional Director and Head, Tourism Division, FICCI among others.
The Odisha Travel Bazaar is expected to be attended by over a hundred foreign as well as domestic and inbound tour operators, leading airlines in the circuit and other key stakeholders in October. This event is also going to attract media attention and many senior journalists, travel writers and content creators are expected to attend the program.
In this backdrop, Bhubaneswar recently hosted the Annual Convention of Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) and now with another major event like Odisha Travel Bazaar, the Govt. intends to project the true tourism prospective of Odisha and to place it as a preferred tourist destination, globally.
The Chief Minister of Odisha, Naveen Patnaik has time and again reinforced the government’s commitment to make tourism a strong pillar of the state’s economic mainstay. The latest Tourism Policy of the state is one of the most lucrative and dynamic instrument in the county which promises not only handsome capital subsidies to potential investors but also facilitation and support from state Govt. for projects in tourism sector.
