Odisha Tourism department recently participated in a two-day road show at Mumbai.The first roadshow organised by FICCI in the aftermath of Fani was aimed at attracting tourists to Odisha, the department said. The event witnessed the participation of over 200 tour & travel operators from the city, who conducted rapid B2B networking with 18 leading tour operators from Odisha, who were part of the delegation.
Odisha tourism minister Jyoti Prakash Panigrahi inaugurated ‘Odisha Tourism Roadshow 2019’ during a press meet, which was organised at Trident Hotel in Mumbai on June 28, 2019.
“We sent a clear message to the participating tour operators and hoteliers that we (Odisha tourism sector) are back on our feet. The tourism industry is back in business due to the state government’s resolve and success at leading the fast recovery from Fani’s devastating impact,” as said by state tourism minister, Jyoti Prakash Panigrahi .
The next leg of this roadshow will be held in various cities like Delhi, Kochi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad etc. Commissioner cum Secretary Vishal Dev initiated the presentation by highlighting key offerings of Odisha across segments such as heritage tourism, ecotourism, ethnic tourism, and spiritual tourism. He emphasised the importance of these segment in terms of enhancing the state’s global brand image.
“Bhubaneswar, one of India’s smartest and most liveable cities, is being increasingly connected to other parts of India and the world. It is this city which received commendations from the sporting world’s who’s who for conducting arguably the best sporting events ever in the form of the Odisha Men’s Hockey World Cup 2018, following the stellar organisation of the Asian Athletics Championships 2017,” said Vishal Dev, Commissioner cum Secretary, Odisha Tourism.
“We are especially focusing on segments like ecotourism, ethnic and handicrafts tourism, besides capitalising 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.”he added.The Government expressed its objective to promote exciting experiences like houseboat tourism and caravan tourism.
The roadshow concluded with a stunning performance of Odissi dance.
In 2018 ,Odisha, witnessed 1.5 crore tourist footfalls, expecting to see the numbers rise to over 2.5 crore in 2021. The state boasts some exciting tourist circuits including diverse wildlife tours across 18 protected areas and two national parks, an enigmatic Buddhist circuit, apart from the spiritually exhilarating Golden Triangle Heritage Circuit of Bhubaneswar – Puri – Konark.
