Mr. Surendra Kumar, Principal Secretary, Department of Tourism, Government of Odisha, said: “This World Tourism Day, all governments are recognizing and actively working towards Inclusive Growth including Odisha. The Odisha Government had recognized this even way before the pandemic struck that tourism is a key sector for growth. Some of the key focus areas that Odisha tourism has been working are Heritage tourism and Tribal tourism.
“The state is also ramping up the award-winning community-led ecotourism models. In the last four five years, Odisha has developed a lot of eco-tourism sites both by the Tourism department as well as the Forest department. Despite the pandemic, the eco-retreat at Konark had fifty percent occupancy and other sites had forty percent occupancy. The Eco Retreat will be expanded to seven unique eco-tourism destinations this year and the model on which the project is based incorporates best practices in material utilization, zero liquid and sewerage discharge and holistic waste management.
“Odisha government has created an investor-friendly climate in the state to rebuild the industry in the next 5 years. Surveys of investible tourism landbanks are being carried out to develop both existing and unexplored tourism destinations. Private sector investments are being facilitated through attractive incentivization schemes.”
Mr. Suman Billa, Director, United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNTWO), Technical Cooperation & Silk Road Development, stated: “There is no sector as efficient as the tourism sector in taking up the inclusive growth to its peak. Tourism matters because of its sheer size. The industry accounts for 1.7 trillion dollars in terms of exports alone. One out of every ten jobs are created by the Tourism sector. One of the other important aspects of Tourism is its ability to create jobs for a diverse workforce.
“Odisha has taken up fundamental and far-reaching initiatives to create ‘Inclusive Tourism’. One of the most important cornerstones is that Odisha has taken up initiatives in creating authentic and traditional experiences for tourists and this is supported by their push to create homestays which is excellent. This not only gives the opportunity to showcase the true experience of Odisha to the tourist but also creates economic avenues for the community.
“Odisha is also supporting its traditional industry like handicrafts and handlooms through tourism. It is also excellent that Odisha is creating traditional wooden boats that will be manned by the local boatmen thus creating livelihoods for them.”
Mr. J. K. Mohanty, CMD, Swosti Group; Capt Suresh Sharma, Founder and Director Operations, Green Dot Expeditions; Dr. Vithal Venkatesh Kamat, Executive Chairman & Managing Director, Kamat Hotels Group Ltd.; and Mr. Devjyoti Patnaik, avid traveler and biker, also shared their perspective on the tourism potential in the state.
A second TV commercial on “Odisha by Road,” a campaign initiated last year on World Tourism Day to promote road trips in Odisha, was launched during the webinar.
The results of the World Tourism Day 2021 Photography competition “Odisha Through Your Lens” were also announced during the webinar. The top 100 photo contest entries are currently on display at Bhubaneswar’s Utkal Galleria and Esplanade mall.
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