Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government will soon be introducing policies to improve the dwindling number of foreign tourists to the state.
The state will come up with Odisha Homestay Policy and Odisha Adventure Sports Policy soon, both of which will create numerous entrepreneurial opportunities. Odisha Tourism is also planning a campaign, ‘Wed in Odisha’, on the lines of ‘Wed in India’ to promote the state’s ancient monuments and temple complexes as ideal venues for destination and cultural weddings.
“The homestay and adventure sports policies will encourage local entrepreneurship while attracting global tourists. Odisha will no more be a best-kept secret, every corner of the state will tell a unique story and provide ample scope for exploring nature,” Deputy Chief Minister, who also hold the Tourism portfolio, Pravati Parida announced ahead of the Odisha Travel Bazar 2025, scheduled from Feb 24-27 in Bhubaneswar.
She emphasised on the government’s commitment to expanding tourism infrastructure.
Parida informed that the state is also working on a collaborative initiative with the Centre for the development of Buddhist sites. “This move aims to boost heritage tourism at Lalitgiri, Ratnagiri, and Udayagiri, along with other sites, particularly attracting Buddhist pilgrims from Southeast Asia. In the next six months, people of Odisha can feel the change, and tourism is going to be one of the major contributors to the state’s GDP,” she said.
The Tourism Minister further stated that the government is making efforts to promote Odisha, which boasts of beautiful beaches, hills, mountains, temples and the vast coastline, as destination wedding venues, which will boost the economy of the people and the state. “We will soon roll out Odisha wedding destination policy with the motto ‘Wed in Odisha’. The state has beautiful temples, which can be converted as destination weddings because many youths, nowadays, are planning to conduct their wedding in temples. Possible temples will be identified and promoted for destination wedding. Necessary infrastructure including hotels will also be created,” she added.
Parida said that the state Tourism department in collaboration with the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) will organise the 6th edition of the Odisha Travel Bazaar to aggressively promote Odisha’s tourist destinations to domestic and international markets.
Approximately 100 domestic tour operators from over 30 cities across India and more than 30 foreign tour operators from 17 countries, including Australia, the UK, Germany, Belgium, South Africa, Spain, and Singapore, are expected to participate in the event.
“The state has not reached the number of foreign tourists in pre-Covid times. Last year, the state received 43,000 foreign tourists, which we are trying to improve through extensive marketing and promotion of our products,” said Tourism secretary Balwant Singh.
The event will focus on B2B meetings between 70 sellers from Odisha’s tourism sector and domestic tour operators (DTOs) and foreign tour operators (FTOs), followed by familiarisation trips to key tourism destinations such as Bhitarkanika, Raghurajpur, Puri-Konark, and the diamond triangle, he added.
(With agency inputs)
