Odisha’s strength is its modern airport and beautiful capital city with wide avenues and excellent connectivity, said renowned international travel writer Aline Dobbie at a Press meet held here on Saturday.
Also a renowned photographer and blogger, Aline stayed with her husband Dr Graham Dobbie in the State for seven days as part of their move to promote tourism potential of Odisha in the international market.
Aline Dobbie said some international airlines like Air Emirates and others should fly to the State for the foreign tourists footfalls to increase massively.
She said that Odisha has lagged behind in promoting tourism compared to other States like Kerala, Rajasthan and Gujarat. The tourism potential of the State should be promoted in big way, she added.
Dr Graham Dobbie said the Bhitarakanika has got very rich wildlife resources. The crocodiles are awesome. Similarly the Swosti Chilika Resort at Gopalpur is fabulous as one can come to relax and watch rich varieties of birds.
He remarked that most of the tourist places and beaches are littered with garbage and plastic. It appears that the Swacch Bharat Abhiyan has a cosmetic effect. They need to be cleaned and made more hygienic to attract more tourists.
It might be mentioned here that Aline has written four books on India and won the prestigious Pride of India Gold Award in 2006 in recognition of her work.
They also spoke about different destinations they visited during their weeklong stay like tribal museums, appliqué work, Sun Temple, Buddhist sites and many more tourist places.
Finally they said, “Overall, Odisha is Great.”