BHUBANESWAR: The State Government on Sunday urged all the foreign tour operators taking part in the Odisha Travel Bazaar here to include Odisha in their India specific packages.
“We have requested the foreign tour operators, who are interested in Indian tourism, to give importance to Odisha and prepare the State specific packages,” said officials of Tourism department here on the concluding day of the seven-day tourism summit organised by Odisha Tourism and FICCI.
“Normally, the foreign tour operators prepare three-night-four-days packages for their customers. If Odisha gets a place in these packages, it will boost State’s tourism sector in a big way,” said Tourism Joint Director Utpal Pati.
The State Government is also creating a land bank for tourism and hospitality industry. “We have already identified lands in Chilika, Gopalpur and Puri-Konark area for development of tourism infrastructure,” he said.
Private players who participated in the tourism summit are interested to set up eco-cottage, water park and theme park in major tourist sites. Some tour operators are keen to bring tourists to Koraput, Jaipur, Rayagada and Sambalpur, said tourism officials.
More than 85 foreign and domestic tour operators participated in the summit. A whopping 2,400 B2B meetings between the sellers and domestic and foreign buyers were organised during the event. The tour operators were also taken to tribal areas like Koraput and Rayagada, eco-tourism spots like Chilika and Bhitarkanika, heritage sites in Konark and Puri and temple circuit of Bhubaneswar as part of familiarisation trips. The foreign tour operators also urged the Government to provide domestic air connectivity and more tourism infrastructure to boost the State’s tourism sector. “Coming from United States, its a very long travel time. So the rewards have to be great for those coming from that far and I think the rewards here are worth coming,” said owner and president of Global Event Managers, USA, James Jeske.
Jaime Calatrava, Director of Madrid-based Advicer Consultores, sought more measures for promotion of ‘Brand Odisha’ in international market.
Akansha Dwibedi, a domestic tour operator, said, “Odisha must get the global exposure what it deserves. People should come and experience Odisha. The hospitality we get here is awesome. The beauty is mesmerizing. Travel Bazaar 2019 was also a best platform to promote the State’s tourism.”