BHUBANESWAR: After conducting road shows in metros and popular tourist destinations across the country, Odisha Tourism is now eyeing lesser known places to attract tourists to the State.
Odisha is one of the emerging tourist destinations of the country and the Tourism Department plans to cash in on its beaches and heritage. The focus is on Buddhist tourists, both domestic and international, whose footfall has been consistently increasing.
Road shows will begin from Bhopal in September and move to Patna, Ranchi, Visakhapatnam and Bangalore. All these places have Buddhist circuits or settlements.
The move is aimed at improving Buddhist tourism potential of the State. In 2013, while Lalitgiri received 25,054 tourists, 35,644 travellers visited Ratnagiri and Udaygiri while nearly five lakh tourists travelled to Dhauli Shanti Stupa, on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar.
The department will also participate in international tourism festivals like Internationale Tourismus Börse Berlin (ITB Berlin), World Travel Market in London, FITUR in Madrid, BIT International Tourism Exchange in Milan and a festival hosted by United States Tour Operators Association at New York.
Last year, it had organised similar road shows in Varanasi, Hyderabad, Goa and Raipur.