post news network, Bhubaneswar, July 2: The state tourism department has recently identified around 345 sites of the state as tourist destinations. However, non-availability of printed publicity materials on all the sites listed, is hampering the prospects of tourism in the state and adding to the woes of the tourists keen to hit the roads to see the various places of interest in Orissa.
The state tourism department has designated tourist officers, in majority of the districts in the state, who act as information officers for the tourists. They provide information to the visitors and often give them printed publicity brochures, made by the state tourism department or some of its executing agencies, which are supposed to become a handy reference point of information required by them.
However, against the 345 designated spots, identified by the department, information brochures on only a few spots are available with the department. This, in most of the cases dampens the spirits of the prospective tourists, thereby hampering the prospects of tourism in the state. According to sources in the tourism department, publicity materials and tourist literature pertaining to only eight hotspots are now available with the department.
“There is not much information available through the tourist offices for the people who want to roam the state in search of new places. Only brochures relating to such famous places as Puri, Konark and a few other places are available. What if some people want to see some tribal areas to know more about their art and culture? For these things we have to rely on the internet, which is not very trustworthy,” said Madhulika Jena, a travel enthusiast from the city.
Moreover, the tourism guide directory was last published in 2000 and has not been updated and printed since. The officials in the department, however, claim work is being done to produce publicity materials for the tourists.
“Our department often produces tourism-related materials to boost tourism in the state. Recently, we produced ‘Atithi’, our newsletter, which talks about the diverse cultural events held in different parts of the state in the recent past, as also the achievements of the department. Moreover, our department website is a repository of destination guide,” said an official of the state tourism department.
Some experts from the city believe that the time is ripe to introduce digital data to check wastage of money and also ensure easy accessibility of data.
Bishwaprakash Pattanaik, communication specialist working in a logistics firm in the city said, “The need of the time is to make a digital repository of tourism data in order to facilitate easy access of information to the needy. It also saves money as it checks wastage of money in printing several brochures, which at times remain unutilised. Also the young generation prefers things online, which are barely some clicks away.”
