Ashok Chandra Panda, minister of tourism and culture, Government of Odisha was invited by the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) to officially announce its 33rd IATO Annual Convention scheduled to be held in Bhubneshwar next month. Welcoming the minister, Lally Mathers, honorary secretary, IATO mentioned that there had been tremendous efforts from the Government of Odisha to bring the convention to their state. Taking it further, Pronab Sarkar, president, IATO informed, “We are grateful to the minister for his presence. Our last convention in Odisha was during the year 2008 and I must say a lot has changed in the state from tourism perspective. There have been some landmark changes in its infrastructure development, new products which adds to its offerings. We urge the members to participate in large numbers and give the state its due attention.”
Commenting on the recent growth in the state, Panda, stated, “A lot has changed in the state over the years and our latest tourism policy introduced last year gives more investment opportunities to the private players. The problem of international connectivity has been solved with Air Asia starting their weekly service to Kuala Lampur which will soon turn into a daily flight. Spice Jet has also shown interest in starting a weekly service connecting Bhubaneswar to Sharjah which will add to our international connections. We have proposed to add three areas of Jeypore, Rourkela and Rajgarh under the Udaan scheme which shall help add regional connectivity and also promote tribal tourism. Odisha has also been sanctioned 80 crore in the Swadesh Darshan Scheme which shall trigger further developments.”
While inviting IATO members to the convention in Odisha, he asserted that the state has seen a rise in footfalls of tourists in the past years because it holds immense potential through its culture, historical and local offerings. He ended by mentioning, “Many hotels have also shown keen interest in the state and we are sure the upcoming developments will ensure more offerings to the tourists. We all invite you to our state to make this convention a big success.”
The venue of the convention is Mayfair Bhubaneshwar while the hotels, airlines and post tours are in the last stage of finalisation. The theme for this convention is ‘India Tourism- Time to reinvent ourselves’. Rajiv Mehra and Lally Mathews from have been appointed as the chairman and co- chairman for the convention respectively.
