The Hotel and Restaurant Association of Odisha’s (HRAO) 4th Odisha Tourism Conclave is scheduled to be carried out from September 18.
Odisha’s Governor Prof Ganeshi Lal, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Union and State Ministers will be the most eminent figures to grace the annual event.
Along with, veterans from different fields including travel trade, performing arts, adventure sports, airlines, media, filmmakers, digital marketing and food entrepreneurs, eco-tourism enthusiasts, academicians, bloggers and content writers, have also been invited to attend the gathering.
The last tourism conclave was a huge success. The Chairman of HRAO, JK Mohanty said that expert suggestions given by professionals during the 3rd Odisha Tourism Conclave last year, were proven to be highly beneficial for the State Government, decision-makers and travel trade.
This time a welcoming proposal of promoting Odisha as a 21-night destination, has been put forth by the hoteliers’ body. Again the union suggests to engage local communities of rural areas to guide the tourists’ visits which in one hand will boost the rural economy and with other can produce economical tour packages.
The association also requested the Government to take prompt decisions on the allotment of land to investors so that they can facilitate travelers with roadside amenities. It also proposed for an international standard convention centre to attract international conferences and convention tourism to the State.
Making of a global Brand Odisha campaign video in the lines of countries like New Zealand, Thailand and Dubai, is also included among other proposals.
Taking all the above suggestions into account, the Tourism Department has accepted and implemented some of them by changing the website of Odisha Tourism and aggressive digital brand marketing through domestic road-shows. The department has also decided to conduct international road-shows in different countries from where the State expects tourist traffic.
Hosting this time’s annual meet, the association is quite hopeful that the State-level workshops will take the Tourism Policies of 2020 to the next level.
