Tourism Minister inaugurates Odisha Travel Bazaar

Bhubaneswar: Tourism and Culture Minister Ashok Chandra Panda inaugurated the three-day Odisha Travel Bazaar at Hotel Mayfair Lagoon here on Sunday.

“After two and half years of tireless effort, we have been able to organise such an event in association with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). We were keen to organise such an event because we wanted to be taken note of in tourism business.”

“The state government is committed to safety of visitors and therefore, eight tourism police stations have been set up at different key places along with regular patrolling of tourist sites,” he said.

Speaking on the occasion, Tourism secretary Mona Sharma said,” The state has everything to offer a tourist from arts and crafts heritage to eco and tribal tourism. Since tourism has been added as a priority sector, we offer attractive discounts to investors who wants to develop tourism infrastructure.”

Tourism panel chairman, FICCI Odisha, JK Mohanty said,”Odisha was lagging behind other state in bringing to the fore its true tourism potential owing to lack of direct air connectivity. The state is ready to take a leap forward since it now has international connectivity.”

During the three-day event, there will be 2,000 structured and pre-structured business to business (B2B) meetings between buyers and sellers at all booths/table tops.