Indo-Asian News Service
Bhubaneswar, Feb 16: It has all the attractions including a 480-km coastline. But Orissa gets less than one per cent of all the foreign tourists who visit India.
Officials say Orissa has everything to offer to tourists including tranquil beaches, towering temples, serpentine rivers and mighty waterfalls. But footfall of foreign tourists is not overwhelming although inflow has gone up compared to previous years.
‘‘A total of 71,426 foreign tourists visited Orissa in 2014 while 7.4 million came to India,’’ said Tourism Minister Ashok Chandra Panda. “In the last five years, a total 313,974 foreign tourists visited Orissa.’’
In the last five years, 45,820,689 tourists visited the state. Of this, 17,697,871 were from other parts of India.
The number of foreigners visiting the state went up to 64,719 in 2012 and 66,675 in 2013.
The state tourism department has been taking part in many international travel and trade fairs to attract tourists.
“Once international flight operation starts from the Biju Patnaik airport here, the tourist flow will increase,” the minister told newspersons.
He said the government had sought from the civil aviation ministry air connectivity from Bhubaneswar to Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Japan and several Gulf countries.
‘‘We are focussing on three areas – accessibility, infrastructure and marketing – to boost tourism,’’ said Arabinda Padhee, the secretary in the department of tourism and culture. ‘‘The government will come up with schemes in the coming budget to support tourism infrastructure,” he added.
Experts attribute factors like the absence of international air connectivity, lack of proper connectivity to remote eco-tourism sites, inadequate number of luxury and star hotels, and poor infrastructure at tourism sites for the poor tourist inflow in Orissa.
They said Orissa had been depending on the Puri-Konark and Diamond Triangle of Buddhist circuits. It needed to focus on eco-tourism sector comprising Similipal, Bhitarkanika, Tikarpada, Chilika, Chandaka- Nandankanan, Debrigarh and Kuldiha.
‘‘The government needs to upgrade infrastructure to boost eco-tourism, which can be the biggest crowd puller,’’ JK Mohanty, chairman, Hotel and Restaurant Association of Orissa (HARO), told IANS.
He said 5,000 additional rooms were needed to double the capacity in the hospitality sector by 2016.
While the eco-tourism sites have no proper accommodation for tourists, safety and security of foreigners is also a major concern.
The government has restricted tourists from visiting Maoist affected areas and has banned ‘‘tribal tourism.’’
