Boost to Tourism: IATO Annual Convention kicks start in city today

Bhubaneswar: Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO), the apex body of travel trade in the country, will be organising the 33rd IATO Annual Convention from September 7 to 10 here in association with Odisha Tourism.
IATO is back to the temple city after a gap of 9 years. IATO picked Bhubaneswar to host the Annual Convention this year as Minister of Tourism, Government of Odisha, Ashok Chandra Panda had given it an open invitation during the last year convention held at Chennai.
While extending invitation, Panda mentioned that a lot of new developments had taken place and one must experience these new tourist attractions and the developed infrastructure. He had also assured full cooperation of the state government and the whole team of Odisha Tourism, IATO sources said.
“In the realm of tourism, the state has some of the stunning and attractive destinations which are unexplored. At present, the growth of tourist arrival to the state is about 9% which is more than the global tourist arrival of 4%. This increasing trend of tourist arrival is a positive sign for the state. The strength of Odisha is its culture. But new tourism products like Ethnic tourism, Buddhist tourism, Eco-tourism, MICE tourism, etc has gained the momentum and attracts a lot of tourists to the state,” said Principal Secretary, Tourism, Dr. Mona Sarma.
On the other hand, IATO with more than 1,600 members has taken a big leap in promoting India as a lucrative destination. About 1,000 members will be participating in this convention, the sources added.