Foreign visitors give Buddhist sites a miss
BHUBANESWAR: The arrival of international tourists to the state may have improved over the last one year but the Buddhist sites are yet to get their share of foreign visitors.
If the statistics of Department of Tourism are any indication, the three sites of Ratnagiri, Lalitgiri and Udaygiri - considered the Diamond Triangle of the state - received less than 20 per cent of foreign tourists in 2022 than what they used to get before Covid-19.
As per the tourist footfall data of the last five years, inflow of foreign tourists has gradually decreased over the period. Lalitgiri in Cuttack district had drawn 47,809 domestic travellers and 367 foreign tourists in 2019 and the number was 45,471 (domestic) and 351 (foreign) in 2018.
In 2020 till March, 19,924 domestic tourists and 186 foreign travellers visited the site. In 2021, the number was 18,743 domestic and only five international tourists. Last year, 42 foreign travellers visited the site while the number was 22,241 in case of domestic visitors. Similarly, Ratnagiri and Udaygiri in Jajpur district had received 78,100 domestic tourists and 1,041 foreign visitors in 2019. The number was 74,023 domestic travellers and 911 international tourists in 2018. Before Covid outbreak in 2020, these sites got 12,733 domestic tourists and 243 international visitors from January to March.
While the number of foreign tourists dropped to 14 in 2021, it rose to just 23 last year. Domestic tourists at the sites in 2021 and 2022 were 13,965 and 12,603 respectively. Langudi close by hasn’t received any foreign tourists so far. None of the three sites and the one at Langudi have any tourist amenities including eateries as of now. “The three sites are beautiful but any visitor who comes to the area has to travel to Olasuni to have tea or Chandikhol to have food,” said Pavitra Mohanty, a local guide.
However, Tourism department officials said things will improve soon. Work is underway to renovate the dilapidated hotels and accommodation units existing in the area. The property owned by Odisha Tourism Development Corporation (OTDC) at Ratnagiri and Udaygiri were leased out to a private agency in 2013. The lease was cancelled in 2020 due to failure of the third party in running the property which were taken back by the OTDC in May last year which started their renovation.
OTDC also took over the dilapidated cottages at Langudi for renovation. At present, work on the accommodation facility at Ratnagiri with 21 rooms and Langudi is nearing completion. At Udaygiri, where the accommodation unit is located on the foothills, work is underway. The property will either be handed over to the district administration by OTDC for operation or leased out to a third party.
Tourism scenario
- Ratnagiri, Lalitgiri and Udaygiri got less than 20 pc foreign tourists in 2022
- Number of foreign tourists dropped to 14 in 2021, rose to just 23 last year
- Langudi close by hasn’t received any foreign tourists so far
- The three sites and Langudi have no tourist amenities
- Tourist dept says work underway to renovate hotels in the area