State to showcase its hot spots in Berlin

Bhubaneswar, Feb 27: A delegation from the state led by the tourism minister Ashok Chandra Panda is all set to fly to Berlin to promote the hot tourist spots of Orissa at the international level. Berlin is hosting an international travel- trade show christened ‘ITB-2015’ which is expected to attract delegations from across 180 countries. Every year, delegations from different parts of the world flock to the travel-trade show to exhibit travel destinations of their individual countries.

The team of the department of tourism comprises, apart from the tourism minister, tourism secretary Aravind Padhee, tourist officer Rati Kant Patnaik, representatives of three prominent city hotels and a tour operator. They will board a flight on March 2 to take part in the fest, slated to commence from March 4. The four-day fest will go on till March 8.

 The website of ITB-2015 says that there will be 10,000 exhibitions held during the four-day fest across an area covering 1,60,000 square meters. The website also states that delegations from around 180 countries will be taking part in the event.

Tourist officer Rati Kant Patnaik, who is part of the delegation told Orissa Post, “Our team will take a flight on March 2. We have taken publicity material with us to showcase our famous tourist destinations at the international festival. We are ready with posters, brochures, CDs and DVDs, besides other materials in order to inform the foreigners more about our state and about the famous places here. We will put on display places like Puri, Konark, Bhitarkanika, Buddhist sites like Lalitgiri, Udayagiri (and) Chilika lake among other hot spots.”

When asked who all would the state tourism department target at the international fest, Patnaik said, “We will basically talk to the tour and travel operators there. We will inform them about our resources. Moreover, we will also inform the visitors directly about our travel destinations. Hope we get some foreign tourists through the fest.”

The four private players who are part of the government delegation are representatives of Hotel Mayfair, Hotel Swosti, hotel Toshali and Alternative Tours, a tour operator.

 According to informed sources the department of tourism often visits international travel fests to showcase Orissa’s tourist destinations and resources for world travellers. Last month, the department visited New York to take part in a similar trade fair. A tour to London is slated next month. There the department will showcase the state’s hot spots to European tourists.

Tourism department sources say, it is a regular affair for the department to take part in the international fairs to project the famous sites in the state at global level and to attract foreign tourists. The state government, it may be recalled, has sanctioned around `149crore for the next fiscal, to promote tourism in the state. However, many critics in the past did target the tourism department for these visits to foreign countries, which are not its potential markets. The department had also been criticised in the past for spending a good amount of money in organising promotional events instead of focusing on creations of public utility at important tourist destinations.