OdishaLIVE Bureau
Smart City Bhubaneswar marks World Tourism Day with celebrations and activities
Odisha Tourism, host partner of the Odisha Hockey Men’s World Cup Bhubaneswar 2018 celebrated World Tourism Day with a host of activities which included a heritage walk, food festival and a cultural event.
Vishal Dev, Commissioner-cum-Secretary, Odisha Tourism and Sports & Youth Services Department, Government of Odisha said: “We are committed to the theme of this year’s World Tourism Day i.e. Digital Transformation. Bhubaneswar is the only Indian city to win the prestigious American Pierre L’Enfant International Planning Award and the only Indian city to be ranked among the world’s best performing Smart Cities by British marketing agency Juniper Research. More importantly, we are putting in efforts to develop the infrastructure within the state to attract more tourists.”
This year is a special one for Odisha Tourism being the host partner of the hockey world cup. Odisha is preparing to welcome thousands of tourists from national and international cities. World Tourism Day was kicked off with a walk from the iconic Kalinga Stadium to Utkal Mandap in Bhubaneswar.
The vibrancy of the performance of artists was complimented by the enthusiasm of the participants during the walk. Odisha Tourism minister Ashok Chandra Panda, Tourism secretary Vishal K. Dev and Tourism Director, Archana Patnaik participated in the walk along with other officials of Odisha Tourism and various stakeholders.
A Food Festival has been organised at IDCO Exhibition Ground which will continue till 8th October. To make the state clean and green, the Tourism Department has further undertaken a pledge for a plastic free Odisha. Meanwhile, state wide various events like cleanliness drive, welcoming tourists at railway station and the airport, inclusion of local community etc. were organised by local tourist officers to engage people on the occasion.
The festivities concluded with a cultural performance at the Rabindra Mandap in the evening organised by Paryatan Bibhag Sanskrutika Parishad.
