Mr. Naveen Patnaik, Chief Minister of Odisha has inaugurated the third edition of the Odisha travel Bazaar organised by the Department of Tourism, Government of Odisha in partnership with FICCI culminated with Heritage Walk & B2B meetings of leading domestic and foreign tour operators with their Odisha counterparts.
Mr Naveen Patnaik on his inaugural speech said that endowed with some of India’s finest eco-tourism hotspots such as Chilika lagoon, Similipal, Bhitarkanika, Satksoia and Debrigarh, the state has witnessed a 9 per cent growth in tourist arrival which is more than the global tourist growth of 4 per cent. This trend is a positive sign for the state.
Odisha Tourism has made convergence with Forest Department to promote eco-tourism as 37 per cent of state’s total geographical territory is forested.
He said
The Chief Minister also added that, to position Odisha Tourism in the global arena, the Department has the plan to organise a month-long mega event titled ‘The Konark Sun City Festival’ similar to the Rann of Kutch in Gujarat. The objective is to convert Konark from a day hopping destination to a destination for 2 to 3 days.
Similarly, the Shamuka Special Tourism project, a flagship tourism project of Odisha Tourism, is expected to see development shortly, informed Patnaik.
Considering the state’s rich Buddhist heritage, efforts are being taken to position Odisha among international Buddhist destinations. He added.
Mr Jyoti Prakash Panigrahi, Minister for Tourism, Odisha said, “We are trying hard to position Odisha as the preferred tourist destination of the country. To increase the visibility of tourism potential of the state, we participated in so many national, international events and roadshows.”
Mr Vishal Kumar Dev IAS, Secretary of Odisha Tourism said, “Odisha has one of the finest tourism policy of the country. We are receiving good responses from tour operators for our tourism products. We are reaching out and giving training to drivers and travel agencies on etiquettes and tourist sites.”
Odisha Travel Bazaar 2019, a three days mega event has witnessed the participation 26 leading Foreign Tour Operators from across 16 countries, 60 leading Domestic Tour Operators from across 19 cities in India, as well as international airlines and travel writers participated in the event. More than 50 tour operators and hoteliers from Odisha showcased their products as Sellers to market the tourism products of Odisha, along with Ministry of Tourism, Government of India and Odisha Tourism.
Mr. J K Mohanty, Chairman of Swosti group and Co-chairman of FICCI’s national tourism committee said tour operators from Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Thailand, Netherlands, USA, Ukraine and UK have participated in the event and showed their interest to promote Odisha in global market. He expected a good turnout of international and domestic tourists to the state in the future.
The FAM tours which we conducted professionally as part of the event has enhanced the participants’ destination experience and enabled them to develop and promote diverse tourism products and packages of Odisha in their respective markets.
The first bunch of International hosted buyers have covered Puri, Konark, Raghurajpur heritage village, Buddhist sites and Bhitarkanika National Park, while second group tour has visited the Golden Triangle of Odisha and Chilika lagoon which is the heart of the State’s tourism epicentre. Similarly, another batch has experienced the Odisha hospitality by covering ethnic tourism circuit which includes Chatikona tribal market, Onkadeli and Desia Eco Resort beside the visit of the landscapes of Koraput, Jeypore and Malkangiri.
Mr Mohanty added that the outcomes were very good and positive from this initiative as for sure in some years with sustained campaign Odisha will no doubt be one of the premier tourist destinations in the country.
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