The foreign tourist inflow to Odisha declined drastically in the year 2015 compared to the previous year. While 71,426 overseas tourists visited the State in 2014, the number came down to 66,971 in the last year.
It was revealed at a review meeting of the Tourist and Culture Department held under chairmanship of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday.
However, the domestic tourist footfall increased during 2015. A total of 1,17,87,117 tourists from different States visited Odisha against 1.07,90,622 in the previous year.
The Government has targeted that 80,000 foreign and 1.35 crore domestic tourists would come during the current year.
The meeting was informed that a new Tourism Policy 2016 would be declared in August.
Among others, Tourism and Culture Minister Ashok Panda, Principal Secretary to CM and the Development Commissioner were present.
