Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik while inaugurating the 3rd International Conference on Buddhist Heritage here on Friday emphasised on promotion of the Buddhist heritages of the State at international level. He termed the Buddhist heritages at lalitgiri, Udaygiri and Ratnagiri as invaluable assets in the tourism sector of the State. To increase the tourist footfall at these places, he said the State Government would take initiatives at their promotion and wider publicity at the national and international levels. Patnaik hoped that the conference would successfully portray the significance of the heritages of the State. He also underlined the importance of the roles of tour operators in promoting the sites.
Tourism Minister Ashok Panda stressed on linking of the Buddhist heritages in the State with Buddhist heritages across the country and abroad. Among others, Tourism Secretary Arvind Padhee and Indian Association of Tour Operators president Subhash Goel also spoke. The three-day conference was attended by many professors from Japan, the University of Delhi, the Banaras Hindu University and the lucknow University besides tour operators from Delhi, Banaras and Odisha.
A book entitled ‘Excavations at Radhanagar’ was released by the Chief Minister at the inaugural session.After the inaugural session, intellectuals and professors presented papers on Buddhist sites of India and Odisha, their tourism potential and other case studies. The second day would have a field visit to lalitgiri, Udayagiri and Ratnagiri, while there would be an exclusive session for the tour operators on the third day.