Despite Odisha having enough tourism potential, the number of foreign tourists visiting the State is dwindling in recent times.
According to the Government’s own statistics, Odisha’s share in the total number of foreign tourists visiting India was only 0.83 per cent in 2015 while the rate was 0.93 per cent in 2014.
In 2015, 80, 27,133 foreign tourists visited India. However, only 66,971 of them came to Odisha. The statistics placed by State Culture and Tourism Minister Ashok Panda in the current session of the Assembly revealed that 66, 675 visitors from abroad toured various places in Odisha in 2013. The following year (2014), 71,426 foreign nationals came to the State and 66,971 in 2015. Thus, the visit of foreign tourists to the State dropped by 4,455 in the particular year.
What is most interesting is that despite the claim by the State Government that a large number of foreign tourists would visit Odisha during the Nabakalabara festival of lord Jagannath in 2015, only 3,000 of them came to the State during that period.
For the State Government, the heartening fact is that the domestic visitors’ inflow has increased by 9-10 per cent a year. Statistics revealed that 98 lakh domestic tourists visited the State in 2013 followed by 1.07 crore in 2014, amounting to an increase of 9 per cent annually. In 2015, the figure was 1.17 crore. The Minister told the Assembly that the State Government was taking several steps to woo the foreign tourists to Odisha.
“A number of festivals, clean beaches, road shows, dance and music festivals are being organised to attract the foreign tourists,” Panda said.
Social worker Dr Suresh Chandra Dalai said the Government must take adequate initiatives to provide luxury and safety to the tourists at different spots so that they will show interest to visit Odisha.
“At many tourist places in the State, there are no proper facilities for tourists. Besides, safety factor is another area where we need to work on,” said Dr Manjoor Ali, a social activist of Jajpur.
Sources said most of the foreign tourists visited the Sun Temple at Konark, Bhitarkanika National Park in Kendrapara and tribal pockets in south Odisha.
The 480-km virgin coastline, gigantic architectural wonders like the Sun Temple at Konark and Emperor Ashoka’s Peace Pagoda at Dhauli near Bhubaneswar, Bhitarkanika National Park in Kendrapada and heterogeneous primitive tribal communities living in southern districts are the major attractions of Odisha for tourists.