BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Tourism suffered a setback because of recent ‘human safari’ and abduction cases. This is notwithstanding the various promotional measures.To bring about a change in the situation, hoteliers in the State have decided to begin their ambitious ‘Visit Odisha’ campaign from next month. As a part of it, the members of Hotel and Restaurant Owners Association (HRAO) have decided to organise roadshows in different states to attract domestic and foreign tourists in collaboration with tourism departments of the different states. Although HRAO members had decided to begin the campaign from the Odia New Year on April 1, the decision had to be postponed due to ongoing abduction drama. “We plan to observe this year as ‘Visit Odisha Year’ and accordingly, the Visit Odisha campaign will be organised every month,” said J K Mohanty, president of the HRAO. He said it had been decided to rope in all the 21 MPs of the State and the legislators of various areas to create mass awareness on various tourism products. “The campaign will be undertaken in collaboration with departments of Tourism and Forest, hotel associations, tour operators and other agencies associated with tourism industry,” he said, adding that the aim is to showcase and advertise the State’s vast tourism potential in an appropriate manner. The campaign would be undertaken in places like Hyderabad, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Jaipur, Kolkata, Delhi, Mumbai and Visakhapatnam. Besides, the campaign would also be organised in countries like Italy, France, Japan, Thailand and China. Tourism products on the State’s Buddhist sites, architecture, wildlife, scenic spots, beaches, temples and handicrafts would be exhibited in these places. “Besides roadshows, we would participate in national trade fairs and international travel marts like those in London, ITB-Asia in Singapore, ITB-Berlin, Sweden, Italy and Paris where there will be one-to-one interactions with tourism entrepreneurs and travel writers and international tour operators,” said Benjamin Simon, president of Travel Agents Association of Odisha. Simon said there were also plans to train some tour operators and guides in foreign languages like French, German and Chinese. “This has been discussed with the government which has agreed to provide the initial training in foreign languages to some select operators and guides,” he said. There are plans to host a special travel mart in the State by 2013, he added. The State Government last week decided to promote the ‘Visit Odisha Campaign’. The decision was taken at a high-level meeting held under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Bijay Kumar Patnaik. It was also decided to simplify entry and exit systems to the wildlife tourism spots like Bhitarkanika, Similipal, Chilika and Satkosia. Efforts would also be made to develop accommodation facilities for tourists at theses places. The proposal for having camping places at Similipal, Belghar, Taptapani, Satkosia, Bhitarkanika, Chandaka and Chilika for watching wildlife was also discussed. The Chief Secretary advised the Tourism Department to take care of ecology while developing wildlife tourism.
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