In Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry’s (FICCI) maiden Travel and Tourism Excellence Awards ceremony, Odisha has successfully grabbed rewards in two different categories. FICCI has organised the ceremony at New Delhi on 24th August 2019.
The State is selected as winner in the categories of ‘best tourism website’ and for implementing ‘Green tourism’. Odisha’s Tourism and Culture Minister Jyoti Prakash Panigrahi received the trophy and a citation for it.
The newly designed portal of Odisha Tourism, odishatourism.gov.in, with its vividness and stylish arrangements of components appears to be captivating for the visitors and effectively prompted them for holidaying in the State. It was launched by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik last month.
Speaking on the occasion, Panigrahi said there were nine tourism circuits across categories have been identified in Odisha which have immense tourism potential.“We need to unwrap the State in areas of tourism and have a global footprint of Odisha in tourism sector,” he said.
Regarding the state’s Green tourism initiatives, unlike other states, Odisha also took the local communities, mostly rural women and tribals, as stakeholders to develop it. In the last three years, 40 destinations in different landscapes of Odisha have been developed by the Forest Department enrolling more than 600 forest-dependent community members.
The newly designed portal of Odisha Tourism, odishatourism.gov.in, with its vividness and stylish arrangements of components appears to be captivating for the visitors and effectively prompted them for holidaying in the State. It was launched by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik last month.
Speaking on the occasion, Panigrahi said there were nine tourism circuits across categories have been identified in Odisha which have immense tourism potential.
“We need to unwrap the State in areas of tourism and have a global footprint of Odisha in tourism sector,” he said.
Regarding the state’s Green tourism initiatives, unlike other states, Odisha also took the local communities, mostly rural women and tribals, as stakeholders to develop it. In the last three years, 40 destinations in different landscapes of Odisha have been developed by the Forest Department enrolling more than 600 forest-dependent community members.
According to state’s Forest and Environment Secretary Mona Sharma, a major share of revenue generated from this Green-tourism venture goes directly to the community engaged. This particularly has made the state stand out among others in the Green tourism front. “We are trying to get some more innovations in the field to showcase the diversity and beauty of the State,” she added.
In the award ceremony, a total of 41 awards in various categories like best heritage hotel, hill resort, green hotel, beach resort, 3/4/5star hotel, adventure tour operator, theme park, tourism mobile application, technology provider and online travel agency were given out.
The sincere attempt made by FICCI to promote the industry that serves as a major source of income, employment, private sector growth and infrastructure development is highly appreciated.
