The annual share of foreign tourists visiting Odisha in the country’s total foreign tourists’ arrival remained to be below one per cent for the last eight years.
This was revealed from the information furnished by the Tourism Minister Ashok Chandar Panda in the State Assembly in response to a question of BJP MLA Dilip Ray on Saturday.
According to the Minister, a total of 1,00,014 tourists from abroad visited Odisha in 2017 while 1,01,77,000 such tourists visited the country during the same year, constituting Odisha’s share to the nation’s foreign tourist arrival at mere 0.98 per cent. Foreign tourists’ share of Odisha in national arrival was 0.87 per cent in 2010, 0.96 per cent in 2011, 0.98 per cent in 2012, 0.96 per cent in 2013, 0.93 per cent in 2014, 0.83 per cent in 2015 and 0.87 per cent in 2016.
As regards to domestic tourists visiting the State, the Minister informed that a total of 1,40,11,229 tourist from Odisha and other States had visited different tourist spots in 2017. These domestic tourists comprised 84,06,401 from Odisha and 56,04,828 from other States and the Union Territories.