To make tourism an important part of economic activities, develop and promote tourist products and to ensure beneficial outcomes to all stakeholders through investments and engagement, the Odisha government rolled out the new Odisha Tourism Policy 2022. This policy comes into force with effect from December 1, 2022 and shall remain in force till November 30, 2027.
In order to make tourism an important part of economic activities, promote brand image of Odisha nationally and internationally, develop and promote the prime tourist products and to ensure beneficial outcome to all stakeholders through investments and engagement, the state government rolled out the new Odisha Tourism Policy 2022 officially on December 3.
This policy comes into force with effect from December 1, 2022 and shall remain in force till November 30, 2027 or till the time it is amended or superseded by a new policy.
The present policy, which was unveiled by Minister Tourism & OLLC Ashwini Kumar Patra, envisages an aggressive and long-term approach to achieve the growth potential in tourism. As the policy entails, this will be ensured by initiating identified policy measures, ensuring large scale investment support through professional management and private participation, establishing the required synergies among various sectors and focused intervention for improvement of value and quality in the tourism sector.
The Minister highlighted the focus areas on which the new policy is drafted, prime among them being the incorporation of incentives for integrated development with hospitals attached to 3-star and above hotels, in a bid to develop and promote Odisha as a destination of Medical and Wellness Tourism.
Some of the other key salient features mentioned in the new tourism policy include promotion of sustainable and responsible tourism with a view to create employment opportunities and bringing about socio-economic benefits to the stakeholder community, position Odisha as one of the leading MICE, Wellness, Health, and Sports tourism destinations, introduce innovative tourism products, ensure local community benefits, address the regulatory and tourism promotion as well as development functions with Private Sector Participation at all levels and more.
Announcing the investment intent of more than INR 7800 crore from about 85 investors, Patra added, “This is a shining example of the focused efforts being made by Department of Tourism under the strong and able leadership of Hon’ble Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and his mission to develop Odisha as a Tourism Hub of International Standards.”
For fast clearance of Tourism Projects, the Single Window Clearance mechanism has also been established which will issue approvals to investment applications as provided in Odisha Industries Facilitation Act, 2004 (OIFA). The State has implemented the award-winning Go-SWIFT application 14 that enables a seamless and hassle-free investment application without any human interface.
Once the gazette notification is out, the new Odisha Tourism Policy 2022 is slated to supersede the existing Odisha Tourism Policy 2016 from December 3, 2022. The Department of Tourism plans to officially roll out the new policy during the upcoming Make in Odisha Conclave. The 2022 policy will envisage acceleration of growth in the tourism sector through private sector participation and a special spotlight on Wellness and Medical Tourism and other booming sectors.
Aiming to lead the tourist footfall figures; developmental roadmaps launched
Through the new policy, the state also displays its intent to become one of the leading states in India in terms of tourist footfall. According to the data shared by the Odisha tourism department, the tourist arrival to the state has increased in the last decades. In the last six years, the tourist arrival to the State has shown an increasing trend till 2019, accounting for a total 1,54,22,765 visitors. However, with the pandemic related restrictions, the state saw a dip in 2020 and 2021 recording 46,32,479 and 37,44,490 visitors in the respective years.
Aiming to see a boost in the tourism sector as well as a surge in arrivals through this policy, Principal Secretary Tourism, Surendra Kumar said, “Odisha is one of the few states that provides land for tourism projects at Industrial Rates. The slew of incentives now Odisha offers for tourism development is far more than what other states are currently offering for tourism development.”
“I am sure with the proactive interventions being made by the State Government guided by the new tourism policy, Odisha will emerge as one of the leading destinations for MICE, Wellness, Health, Eco Tourism and Sports Tourism with introduction of many innovative and niche tourism products such as caravans, camping, medical tourism, houseboats, cruises, yachts and more,” he elaborated.
With the state’s special focus on culture, heritage, nature and wildlife, the Department of Tourism also released two roadmaps- Roadmap for Development of Tourism Sector in Odisha – 2030 and Roadmap for Development of Ecotourism Sector in Odisha – 2030, which will act as a guiding principle for development of the tourism sector in the State with focused interventions across key destinations based on gap assessment and future plans.
To boost the inter state connectivity and domestic arrivals, the policy also aims at promoting circuit tourism in association with other states of the Eastern Zone of the country to facilitate easy arrival and movement of the tourist.
On the air connectivity front, the state Government has added another two airports viz. Jharsuguda and Jeypore in its list. Going forward, Odisha will encourage further exploration of the possibilities of developing small air strips inside the state on PPP mode.
The state government shall also pursue with the Indian Railway for expansion of railway network inside the state especially to the important tourist destinations. The state will encourage luxury trains in line with Palace-on-Wheels model in association with Indian Railway, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) and other neighboring states.
Private sector participation in hospitality
With a view to increase the accommodation facilities for travellers and tourists visiting the state so as to increase average night stays within the state, efforts shall be made to encourage private sector investors to create Star category hotels, convention centres, heritage hotels, eco camps. This will be facilitated by granting various fiscal and non fiscal incentives, single window clearance and marketing and promotion support.
The state government at the recent Make in Odisha Conclave brought together the tourism and hospitality industry experts participating in panel discussions where the aspects of augmenting the accommodation, role of investments and boosting tourism infrastructure were discussed in detail.
Simultaneously, the state government has also been taking proactive steps to involve private sector partners in operation and maintenance of properties developed and owned by the Tourism Department.
With this in view, seven properties have already been leased out to private operators and more such properties are in pipeline for the same action through a transparent process of bidding.
