Bhubaneswar: Minister Tourism, Odia Language, Literature & Culture, Excise Ashwini Kumar Patra today unveiled the new Odisha Tourism Policy 2022 during the sectoral session on Tourism Industry organized at the Make in Odisha Conclave ’22 today.
Roadmap for Development of Tourism Sector in Odisha – 2030 and the Roadmap for Development of Ecotourism Sector in Odisha – 2030 were also unveiled during the session.
Announcing the Investment Intent of more than INR 7800 crore from about 85 investors, Patra said, “This is a shining example of the focused efforts being made by the Department of Tourism under the strong and able leadership of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and his mission to develop Odisha as a Tourism Hub of International Standards.”
The Minister highlighted the focus areas on which the new policy is drafted, prime among them being the incorporation of incentives for integrated development with hospitals attached to 3-star and above hotels, in a bid to develop and promote Odisha as a destination of Medical and Wellness Tourism.
Stressing the importance of the policy to augment the tourism sector in the State, Principal Secretary Tourism Surendra Kumar said, “Odisha is one of the few States that provides land for tourism projects at Industrial Rates. The slew of incentives now Odisha offers for tourism development is far more than what other States are currently offering for tourism development. I am sure with the proactive interventions being made by the State Government guided by the new tourism policy, Odisha will emerge as one of the leading destinations for MICE, Wellness, Health, Eco-Tourism, and Sports Tourism with the introduction of many innovative and niche tourism products such as caravans, camping, medical tourism, houseboats, cruises, yachts, etc.”.
With the State’s treasure trove of culture, heritage, nature, and wildlife, the Department of Tourism released two roadmaps that will act as a guiding principle for the development of the Tourism sector in the State with focused interventions across key destinations based on gap assessment and future plans.
The session also had tourism and hospitality industry experts participating in panel discussions. The first panel discussion on Augmentation of Accommodation and Tourism Infrastructure was moderated by Editor Outlook Traveller Anindita Goswami and had industry captains like Director India & South Asia ACCOR Group Rohit Chopra, Managing Director Wonderla Holidays Ltd Arun Chittilappilly, Co-Chairman FICCI Tourism Committee JK Mohanty, and Country Head Indian Sub-Continent & Indonesia Booking.com Santosh Kumar, and MD Atmosphere Hotels & Resorts Souvagya Mohapatra.
The second panel discussion on ‘Unlocking Odisha’s Nature & Wildlife Tourism Potential’ was moderated by Professor IIFM Bhopal Yogesh Dubey and had ecotourism experts like Director Jungle Travels India Pvt. Ltd Jahnabi Phookan, Former General Secretary ECOSS & COO-MEDEVIR Renzino Lepcha, VP Operations Casino Group of Hotels George Joseph, AGM Jungle Lodges & Resorts, Government of Karnataka Anikethan C, Founder and Chief Executive The Blue Yonder Gopinath Parayil and President EEMA Samit Garg.
During the event, Chairman OTDC Lenin Mohanty gave a special address on the development of the Tourism and hospitality sector in the State while Director of Tourism Sachin R Jadhav gave a detailed presentation on proactive strategies being undertaken by the Department of Tourism for the overall development of tourism sector in Odisha.
