Bhubaneswar: As Odisha aggressively pursues its newly minted 2026 Tourism Amendment Policy, a prominent hospitality industry leader, Souvagya Mohapatra, Chairman of the FICCI Eastern Region Tourism Committee and Managing Director (India, Nepal, Bhutan & Sri Lanka) of Atmosphere Core, has outlined a high-impact, 10-point strategic roadmap designed to transform the state’s extraordinary asset base into world-class, high-value tourism experiences.
The strategy calls on the state government to pivot from destination promotion towards infrastructure investment, private-sector participation and aggressive commercialisation. It aligns closely with Odisha’s ambitious targets of attracting 5 crore domestic and 7 lakh foreign tourist arrivals annually by 2047, alongside a vision to establish 15,000 star-category rooms by 2036.
“Odisha does not have a tourism-product problem. Odisha has a destination-development, connectivity, investment and commercialisation opportunity,” Mohapatra said. “The state has extraordinary assets. The next phase must be about converting these assets into premium, multi-day experiences that drive longer stays, higher spending and sustainable employment.”
Welcoming the state’s recent creation of a 5,500-acre tourism land bank and its Rs 1,500 crore budgetary provision for 2026–31, Mohapatra proposed 10 Priorities for Odisha Tourism to maximise this momentum:
- Shift Focus to Destination Development: Move beyond marketing to build 8–10 professionally managed, high-infrastructure tourism zones equipped with superior roads, sanitation, signage and premium hotels.
- Extend Stays to 5–7 Nights: Modernise the traditional Bhubaneswar–Puri–Konark day-trip model into integrated, multi-day itineraries combining heritage, beaches, wildlife and wellness.
- Aggressively Monetise the Land Bank: Attract global hotel chains by offering investment-ready sites with clear titles, single-window approvals, pre-built utilities and viable FSI/FAR incentives.
- Commercialise 5 Signature Tourism Circuits: Develop the Jagannath Spiritual, Buddhist, Tribal & Wellness, Wildlife & Nature, and Coastal & Marine circuits into seamless commercial products rather than isolated attractions.
- Build Luxury Beyond Urban Hubs: Introduce high-end destination resorts in Koraput, Chilika, Gopalpur, Satkosia and Similipal to serve as primary tourism anchors.
- Establish India’s Premier Spiritual-Wellness Hub: Leverage the foundations of Jagannath culture to create a highly differentiated global proposition combining darshan, Ayurveda, yoga and luxury hospitality.
- Monetise Indigenous Experiences: Pivot towards experiential tourism, ranging from Odia cuisine, Pattachitra and Gotipua dance to river cruises and active eco-tourism.
- Overhaul Last-Mile Infrastructure: Prioritise the physical transit experience by enhancing connectivity from airports to highway corridors, destination roads and public convenience facilities.
- Launch an Investment Facilitation Cell: Form a dedicated team of hotel and infrastructure specialists, measured not by signed MoUs but by operational keys, rooms created and tourist nights generated.
- Anchor the Vision in “Odisha Tourism 2047”: Formally target making Odisha one of India’s top five tourism destinations and the country’s undisputed leader in experiential luxury and heritage tourism by 2047.
Souvagya Mohapatra lauded recent policy updates, such as reducing the minimum room threshold for star hotels to 10 and raising capital subsidies to up to Rs 120 crore, describing them as an ideal foundation for a private-sector-led renaissance in the state’s tourism sector.
Think Beyond 2036 — Create “Odisha Tourism 2047”
Odisha has already set ambitious tourism targets for 2047.
The larger vision should be:
“Make Odisha one of India’s top five tourism destinations by 2047, and India’s leading destination for spiritual, wellness, nature, heritage and experiential luxury tourism.”
