While addressing a road show and a press conference recently at Hotel Taj Krishna in Hyderabad Debi Prasad Mishra, Minister of Tourism, Government of Orissa said that an exclusive tourism village is being developed by the Orissa Tourism Development Corporation (OTDC) on the outskirts of Puri. The 3000-acre mega project is being developed under Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode on the beach front on the south of Puri for tourists. The work on the project which is named as Shamuka Beach Resort has already commenced and about 1000 acres will be developed in the first phase. It is likely to be completed by the end of 2010. Mishra welcomed investments in Orissa and informed that Snow World, Asia’s first and the world’s largest Snow Theme park--Snow World expressed their consent to set up Snow Park in Orissa.
He added that with over 480 kms coastline, Sompur, the Sun Temple at Konark, Jagannath Temple in Puri, the Rath Yatra and other major tourist attractions, Orissa attracts an annual tourist traffic of 236390 which is 11 per cent increase in foreign tourists and six per cent in domestic tourists. An estimated two lakh foot falls are registered every year from the state of Andhra Pradesh. “We want to enhance this pace and develop many new circuits,” stressed Mishra.
He stated that Orissa is a major Buddha Tourism Destination. “We have two all-Budhists villages, Maniabandhan and Nuapatna. About 5000 families live in these villages, which is a rare distinction,” said Mishra. He added that he met the Tourism Minister of Andhra Pradesh and they were exploring a possibility of Cruise Tourism i.e. Sea Cruise from Vishakhapatnam to Kolkata. “Discussions are on and we will soon have some understanding with the Tourism Department of Government of Andhra Pradesh for a mutual promotion of tourism. A Memorandum of Understanding is likely inked in a month’s time,” said Mishra.
“Orissa has 62 tribal groups and large concentration of tribal population. Its populace consists of 22 per cent tribals. Each and every tribe has its rich patterns of music and dance which are variegated, specialised and artistic,” stated Mishra. OTDC is offering several tour packages for tourists to explore places like Puri, Sambalpur, Konark, Bhitharkanika, Ramachandi and Korapur. The packages offered have up to 35 per cent discount. The offer is valid for a limited period of one month. It was stated that over the last five years Orissa has attracted investments over USD 100 billion in the steel, power, education, IT and tourism sectors.
Source : ProjectsToday
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