Odisha Tourism steps up its regional outreach strategy, woos Chhattisgarh

The Samikhsya Bureau

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Tourism’s focused campaign to boost regional tourism today completed its second leg with its virtual roadshow for Chhattisgarh based travel operators in collaboration with FICCI.

The tech-leveraged event witnessed 75 travel operators from Chhattisgarh and 25 host counterparts from Odisha engage in a series of B2B interactions.

Aimed at the timely revival of the tourism and hospitality sector post COVID-19, Odisha is extensively marketing its flagship campaigns – ‘Odisha By Road’ complemented by the highly acclaimed Eco Retreat Odisha glamping festival, which is set to begin on 8 December 2020, up to 28 February 2021.

“Chhattisgarh and Odisha are cultural siblings, with deep-rooted commonalities. Despite this, we have our own unique offerings to exhibit to explorers. Together, our states can make this region the most sought-after winter destination for Indians looking forward to a getaway after reeling under the pandemic for eight months”, said Minister of Tourism J.P. Panigrahi while addressing the roadshow.

As part of his address, Commissioner cum Secretary Tourism, Vishal Dev said, “Odisha’s excellent road connectivity enables enjoyable road trips throughout the state. We have designed two exciting road itineraries starting from Chhattisgarh, including key destinations such as Hirakud and Debrigarh Sanctuary in one leg and Nrusinghnath and Satkosia Tiger Reserve on the other.”

Providing a glimpse of the upcoming Eco Retreat Odisha, Director Tourism, Sachin R. Jadhav said, “Eco Retreat Hirakud, Satkosia and Daringbadi are easily accessible by road, within 450 km. Worldclass amenities for camping in luxury tents are complemented by experiences ranging from jungle trails to water sports, camp-fires to boat rides, cycling tours to adrenaline pumping games, and lip smacking food. All this comes with Odisha’s stamp of tourist safety assurance, backed by its stellar record in COVID management.”

To enable concrete measures for the holistic revival of the tourism and hospitality sector, Government of Odisha has planned to host its marquee annual festival such as Konark Dance Festival, Rajarani Music Festival and Mukteswar Dance Festival while also working on the growth of niche tourism offerings such as houseboat and cruise tourism, caravan and camping tourism, arts and crafts tourism and a lot more.