With the objective of ensuring optimum development of the tourism sector and effective monitoring of the tourism related issues in Orissa, the state government plans to form dedicated bodies for tourism development at the state and district levels.
In its draft tourism policy, the state tourism department has proposed to form the State Tourism Promotion Council (STPC), the apex body to guide, supervise and monitor the development of tourism and various tourism related issues.
The council will be chaired by the state tourism minister while the tourism secretary will be the member secretary of the council.
The council would have the state ministers for home, forest and environment, transport, rural development, water resources, finance and planning as the members of the council.
The council will also have as its members, the representatives from industry bodies like Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) and the Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India.
Besides, the council will have representatives from the Airports Authority of India, two leading airlines operating in the state, two leading tour operators and also two leading tourism promotion bodies.
More From This Section
The members of STPC would be nominated by the Chairman and shall have a maximum tenure of three years unless renewed by the Chairman.
Apart from the STPC, a tourism advisory committee would be constituted for facilitating the tourism development in the state.
This committee to be headed by the Chief Secretary would advise the STPC on policy matters, strategies for development of tourism in the state, inter-departmental coordination and recommendations on granting approval for projects.
Besides, plans are also afoot to form the District Tourism Promotion Councils (DTPCs) and the City Tourism Promotion Councils (CTPCs). The creation of the DTPC is meant for promoting decentralized development of tourism in the state. The DTPCs would identify land parcels for tourism development in the district, act as the nodal agency and clearing house for ideas and information related to tourism at the district and sub-district level and facilitate convergence of resources of various agencies for the development of tourism infrastructure.
Moreover, the onus would be on the DTPCs for development and updating tourism information for districts, promoting the development of tourism master plans for each district in coordination with other government agencies, contributing to the publicity and promotional material of the department of tourism and facilitating the development of eco-tourism societies.
In addition to the DTPCs formed for the district, specific CTPCs would be formed for the urban areas of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack.
The state government may expand the list of such urban areas for which CTPCs may be established from time to time. The CTPCs would be responsible for carrying out the tourism development activities within the corporation limits of the urban areas.