In a bid to boost rural, tribal and heritage tourism, the State Government signed a memorandum of understating (MoU) with the Stay Zilla, a private organisation, to provide all facilities to tourists intending to visit these sites.
The MoU was inked between Tourism Director Nitin Bhanudas Jawale and Stay Zilla vice-president Ankit Rastogi in the presence of Tourism Special Secretary Arti Ahuja here on Tuesday.
The Stay Zilla, which has expertise in the field, would create ‘home stay’ facilities and guides to tourists coming from inside and outside the country. It would provide local foods to tourists.
“When ‘home stay’ facilities will be available at all tourist spots in rural areas, tourists will be encouraged to visit Odisha. The programme will be very beneficial where hotels are not available. Tourism in rural, tribal and craft-heritage villages will get a boost,” said Ahuja.
By now, the Stay Zilla has identified 80 places, including Puri, Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Chilika, Konark, Nuapatana and Raghurajpur, for constructing awaases for tourists, informed Jawale.