BHUBANESWAR: The Hotel and Restaurant Association of Odisha (HRAO) on Wednesday requested the State Government to provide 30 per cent (pc) capital investment subsidy and 5 pc interest subsidy on repayment of term loans under its proposed Tourism Policy-2020 to boost the hospitality sector.
HRAO Chairman JK Mohanty, who submitted a proposal to 5T Secretary VK Pandian in this regard, said Odisha needs around 5000 additional hotel rooms to compete with hotel infrastructure of other States in the country. “The Government should consider providing the 30 per cent subsidy up to maximum `25 crore at least for three years. This will attract many hoteliers to invest in Odisha,” he said.
Mohanty said inadequate number of star hotels and shortage of budget hotels are the biggest constraints in promotion and development of tourism sector in the State.
In spite of being blessed with huge tourism potential, Odisha is not even in the top 10 States when it comes to classified hotels. The State has only nine star hotels compared to 25 in Andhra Pradesh, 39 in West Bengal, 43 in Delhi, 44 in Goa, 53 in Tamil Nadu, 90 in Maharashtra and 563 in Kerala. The HRAO chief has proposed that Odisha should also approach international airlines to start direct connectivity from Bhubaneswar.
He said the policy should also include formation of a tourism development board to monitor continuous development of tourism infrastructure in the State. The HRAO proposed that the new policy should promote film tourism by inviting producers on FAM tour to famous tourist sites.
It should also focus on promotion of textile and handloom circuit and waterfall circuit. Odisha needs to be promoted as a MICE destination, he said. Moreover, Mohanty recommended the 5T Secretary to explore the possibilities of medical tourism in Odisha.
Mohanty said all these issues were discussed at length during the 4th Odisha Tourism Conclave in September and their inclusion in the proposed policy is essential for development of the sector.