The great combination of geographical location and buddhist segment of the tourism is the biggest advantage that can bring exceptional growth for Odisha from Asean nations much comfortably and speedily as compare to any other part of the World. The newly launched AirAsia flight is a giant leap in this direction, now it’s time for Odisha to act upon.
Despite having a vast potential of tourism especially in Buddhist segment and a proximity to the Asean Nations, Odisha is not getting the deserving number of travellers from this part of the world. This means Odisha needs to be more aggressive to connect with the travellers of these nations, which has an immense potential to enhance the tourism business of the state remarkably.
“We have got high inquires from US, Europe and Middle East countries but less than one percent inquiries from Asean countries – which actually is the low-hanging fruit for us, we need to act upon for instant growth” says Dr. Nitin Bhanudas Jawale, Director and Additional Secretary, Odisha Tourism.
The newly launched AirAsia flight which connects Bhubaneswar to Kuala Lumpur has re-invigorated the travel fraternity. This connectivity has opened up a new window of opportunity for the state. As informed by him, the state is gearing up to launch massive marketing and promotional activities in this part of the world to sensitize the travellers about the unique tourism products of the state.
Elaborating on the segments that can be explored by travellers, Dr Jawale said: “Buddhist segment is the way forward to reach Asean Nations and attract a huge chunk of business from here.” “This segment has the vast potential to expedite the growth of our stakeholders much easily and quickly. Be it tour operators or hoteliers, all of them should really take much use of this (Buddhist segment) as we are now directly connected to South East Asia through Air Asia,”
he added.
Since the state has rich legacy as rich as Bodhgaya and Sarnath the fraternity should really work hard on it. “The tourism department is working on this and we believe the stakeholders of this industry will come forward.”
We have heard quite often that Odisha has the beaches, mountains, wildlife, heritage, culture and so many things for all kind of travellers. However, looking at the size of traffic that the state is receiving at the moment, there is a common perception that the state is not doing enough to get its deserving share from tourism sector.
“One thing I would like to mention our stakeholders that we are working hard to establish our state as one of the premiere destination in tourism. We are already catching up with neighbouring states, and poised to establish Odisha as a major tourism destination – for domestic as well as foreign travellers, in next couple of years,” says Dr. Jawale.
While elaborating on the various developments happening across the state he informed the department has identified several tourism zones to develop for creating more activities and facilities. “The golden triangle of Odisha –Bhubaneswar, Puri and Konark which attracts a large number of travellers still require a lot of infrastructure, and we are working on the same,” added
Dr Jawale.
Odisha is blessed with a long coastline and unique places like Chandrabhaga Beach, Bhitarkanika Sanctuary and many other places. The most unique but unexplored spot of the state is Chilika Lake – the largest brackish water lake. “Since this is the hidden treasure of our state, the Department of Tourism is all set to develop and promote Chilika Lake in a big way. We have identified a huge land bank around lake which is available for investment purpose,” said a confident Jawale.
“Just like that we have identified Shamuka Beach to develop for tourism activities. We are coming up with a 1000 acres mega tourism project over there. The whole area will have golf courses, hotels and other tourism related activities. This is going to be the biggest tourism area in the entire country,” he further informed.
The department of tourism has signed a MoU with the Forest Department to promote Eco-tourism in a big way. The department is working on creating infrastructure and simplifying its policies to promote this segment of tourism. According to him the department is planning to promote Eco-tourism in a big way and most of its creative will showcase the eco-products of
the state.
The state has 62 different tribes – with different language and culture, one cannot find this mosaic anywhere else. “This is a very unique product for American and Europian tourist. Its going to be an important product for Odisha to promote,” concludes Dr Jawale.
