OdishsPlus Bureau
In a bid to diversify its tourism by exploring the potential of the various water bodies and wetlands that dot its landscape besides its pristine 482-km long coastline, Odisha’s Tourism Department recently organized a familiarisation trip to Bhitarkanika National Park and Chilika Lake.
The familarisation trip witnessed participation of 18 firms comprising 26 participants across six states including Goa, Gujarat, Kerala, Maharashtra, Telangana and West Bengal, apart from Odisha. The key visits were to Bhitarkanika’s mangrove swamps, which have earned for themselves the sobriquet of “India’s Amazon” among new visitors. The survey of Chilika Lake region comprised visits Rambha and Satapada sites, followed by Tampara Lake.
The three-day trip concluded with an interactive session, during which vital inputs were shared with the Department of Tourism, across concerns such as infrastructure development for ensuring the success of the niche segments, safety and security concerns, experience packaging, among others.
“The government has very aggressively promoted water sports and recreation tourism in recent times. We are laying special policy focus on niche tourism segments such as houseboat tourism, which seamlessly mingles with ecotourism and water recreation,” said Tourism Secretary of the Government of Odisha.
Kerala Tourism vitally contributed to the success of the initiative, wherein the officials from Alappuzha (Alleppey) and Ernakulam (Kochi) districts shared insights from the regulatory, promotional, technical and environmental perspectives.