Recommendations of 4th Odisha Tourism Conclave presented by HRAO Chairman JK Mohanty

OdishaPlus Bureau

The 4^th Odisha Tourism Conclave was held recently and experts from the field of tourism, travel trade, media, performing arts, bloggers, content writers, adventure sports, airlines, digital marketing and branding, food connoisseurs, film makers, eco-tourism lovers, academicians, bureaucrats from the Government, MPs etc. participated and put forth their suggestions for development of Odisha Tourism. The suggestions were compiled into a list of recommendations that was presented by Mr. JK Mohanty, Chairman HRAO and CMD Swosti Group.

• It was mentioned by Vishal Dev, IAS, Commissioner-cum-Secretary Tourism at the 4^th Odisha Tourism Conclave that the future goals include easing the land allotment process as inadequate number of star hotels and shortage of budget hotels is one of the biggest constraints in our state as far as tourism development is concerned. Odisha currently has 9 star category hotels with only 657 rooms. More such classified hotels should come up for providing better accommodation facilities for the tourists.
• Around five thousand additional number of hotel rooms should be set up to compete with the hotel infrastructure of the other states of India. It is therefore recommended by the Odisha Tourism Conclave to allow 30% capital investment subsidy up to a maximum limit of Rs.25 crores and 5% interest subsidy up to 11 years on repayment of term loans. If the subsidy is given only for 3 years many hotels will come up as required.
• Every year millions of Indian tourists visit foreign destinations and spend over Rs. 10,000 cores Indian currency. In order to retain foreign exchange and to attract more domestic tourists to the state, we need to build the hotel rooms, upgrade tourist infrastructure, develop wayside amenities etc.
• The airport of Jeypore, in Odisha, needs to be connected under the Udaan scheme of Govt. of India which will further help in connecting our tourists with many amazing destinations of Odisha. Tourism Department may follow up with the Ministry of Civil Aviation for operation of more domestic and international flights to and from Biju Patnaik International Airport which will create opportunity for arrival of more overseas tourists. We should approach International Airlines such as Etihad, Fly Dubai, Singapore Airlines etc., to start direct connectivity to Bhubaneswar.

• The Konark Temple, the Buddhist Circuits of Odisha and Chilika Lake, the largest lake of the Northern Hemisphere, should come under the Iconic Tourism list of India.
• The new Tourism Policy 2020 should be prepared in consultation with the industry stakeholders.
• Construction of the 480 km coastal highway and a ring road around Chilika Lake should be prioritised.
• Chilika Lake is the goldmine for tourism in Odisha and needs attention of the State and Central government to develop eco-tourism and infrastructure for promoting the area. It was also mentioned by Secretary Tourism, Govt. of Odisha at the 4^th Odisha Tourism Conclave that Chilika continues to be one of the major tourist destinations in Odisha and development of Chilika is a priority. The development work of Biju Patnaik Park still remains pending although Rs.2 crore is lying with OTDC since last two years.
• It was mentioned at the 4^th Odisha Tourism Conclave that 9 tourism circuits comprising of 13 destinations have been identified for intensive infrastructure development and promotion. Development of tourism in the key nine circuits of Odisha require adequate publicity and campaigns by the State Tourism Department and union ministry. The video of the nine circuits is yet to be released by the Tourism Department.
• Development of the infrastructure under the Shamuka project will attract many international hotel chains to expand their wings in Odisha. Land should be allotted at IPR rate to prospective hoteliers. Odisha Tourism can start Golf Tourism as a golfer spends at least 40-45% more time than a normal tourist. A Golf-course at Shamuka can attract more international and high end tourists to the State.
• A Tourism Development Board can be constituted for monitoring continuous development of infrastructure in the state with government and private members for a 5 year term.
• An international convention centre with all the modern amenities and state of the art facilities is required to attract MICE tourism in Odisha. The government’s plan for starting the Convention Center with World Trade Centre, for which the Hon’ble Chief Minister had laid the foundation stone on July 2014, at Bhubaneswar is pending.

• Odisha should improve the direct air connectivity with places across other states. It can enhance both domestic and foreign tourists flow to and from the state.
• Seamless air connectivity between Bhubaneswar, Bodhgaya and Varanasi is highly desired to increase foreign and Buddhist traffic to the State. In domestic sector, Ahmedabad and Varanasi to connect with Bhubaneswar for which Indian carrier such as Spice Jet, Vistara and Go Air shall be requested.
• We need to differentiate and establish the uniqueness of Odisha while building a brand for ourselves so that it can add to the conviction of the tourists.
• The Tourism Department needs to publicize certain new products in Odisha which suits our ground. We can get into the segment of ‘designer tourism’ like Beach Cycling, Flying Kites on the beach, Textile/Handloom Circuits, Waterfall Circuits etc.
• Keeping in view MICE as a growing sector, a separate brochure on MICE and a new brochure on Bhubaneswar may be published incorporating new areas of Bhubaneswar. The quality of Odisha map may be improved which will be of international standard.
• Odisha Tourism Dept. should conduct conclaves and activities on ‘Film Tourism’ by inviting leading film producers on FAM tours to promote attractive tourist destinations.
• Medical Tourism should be introduced in Odisha. With the development of international connectivity and multispecialty hospitals, Odisha has the capacity to generate revenue through this sector. A joint meeting with all hospitals and tourism department may be held to further the initiative.
• The Government could also develop Niche market with specific areas like Buddhist heritage, Chilika Lake, Eco-Tourism, Wildlife, Medical Tourism, improve nightlife activities in Bhubaneswar by having daily traditional Odissi dances and start night safari in Nandankanan which would be a great attraction for the tourists.

• Beaches are great tourism elements. So, our primary concern should be to maintain the cleanliness and safety of our beaches which should be taken into consideration at the earliest. The beaches at Puri, Gopalpur and Chandipur may be developed and kept clean.
• Proper changing rooms should be developed on the beaches, across the state, for the comfort of the visitors.
• Hirakud is the second largest dam in India with picturesque spots that needs the attention of the government. Tourism facilities around the destination to be developed and promoted extensively with water sports facilities.
• Sambalpuri Sarees and Fabrics are admired by people across India and beyond. Thus, it requires proper promotion and marketing as handloom and handicrafts are a part of tourist attraction.
• Encourage more travel writers, from Odisha and other parts of the country, to create engaging content (Text, Photographs and Video) on the key tourist destinations of the state which can be further marketed through various digital platforms. The Tourism Dept. should post more information and engaging content, in the form of text stories, pictures and videos, on various destinations to make the domestic and foreign tourists aware on them.

• It was also mentioned that Tourist Guides are being educated on a common platform with the vision to turn it into a local host programme for anybody who is visiting the area. This will amount in generating employment and develop a sense of pride for the locals. Odisha completely lacks good quality tourist guides and specially in foreign languages like French, German, Chinese, Italian, Russian and Spanish. In addition to English speaking guides, the Dept. may think of developing guides in Chinese, Russian, French, Italian and German language.
• Display the land parcel availability in the website or advertise so that interested bidders will get information for investment.
• To trigger Tourism, globally, international video bloggers may be invited to Odisha from countries that send high tourist traffic to India, and curate experiences for them that they can further share on their media platforms as that creates a lot of buzz. At the same time, nurture local bloggers as the information they put is going to be utilized by the people coming in for travelling.
• We should identify the competitor States and benchmark against the best to receive more foreign tourists in India.

• Traditional food has become a core attraction of tourists. We should thus start archiving Odia traditional recipes and ingenious food and make them available on the digital media.
• The government is working at opening peaks that will directly benefit the adventure tourism in India. Meanwhile, the eco-tourism policy is being framed. We need State Eco-Tourism Policy to be popularised.
• The global media campaign is going to be kicked off soon at the Ministry level and will specifically be coordinated with Odisha. It will help Odisha to showcase all it has through a bouquet of domestic and international forums like Travel marts, Tourist marts, etc. along with other digital and television platforms. Earlier Odisha did not appear in the India Tourism advertisements, the State Government should now follow up with Central Government.

It was unanimously agreed upon that the tourism industry of Odisha can prosper by focusing on time-bound targets for implementation of ideas and infrastructures.