| State focuses on airstrip development to boost tourism | |
| Jayajit Dash / Kolkata/ Bhubaneswar November 04, 2009, 0:00 IST | |
The state government intends to develop 12 airstrips in order to enable them to handle small aircraft suitable for air charter services for tourism purposes.
The state government shall offer these airstrips for development to the private sector on the public private partnership (PPP) mode. The plan to develop these airstrips finds mention in the draft tourism policy of the state tourism department.
The state government is also mulling to fix the rate of sales tax on aviation turbine fuel at four per cent for air charter operators using the above airstrips. Apart from a domestic airport, Orissa has 17 airstrips out of which 12 airstrips are under the administrative control of the state government.
The state tourism department has set a target of achieving at least 10 million domestic tourists by 2012 and 28 million visitors by 2020.
On international tourist arrivals, the state is eyeing at least 80,000 international visitors by 2012 and four lakh by 2020.
According to the estimates of the state tourism department, the tourism sector is set to create direct and indirect employment of 90,000 by 2012 and 2.5 lakh by 2015.
To achieve these targets, the state tourism department through its new tourism policy has planned to develop Orissa as the Most Preferred Tourist Destination, placing it prominently on the global tourism map through a constructive and mutually beneficial partnership between the public and the private sectors in creating tourism infrastructure.
Besides making efforts to develop the notable tourism destinations, the state tourism department is also focusing on the promotion of traditional products like handloom and handicrafts which have huge potential for marketing.
Local small scale handloom and handicrafts units with ISO, ISI or EPM (Export Promotion and Marketing) certifications presently enjoy a price preference of five per cent over local medium and large industries and industries from outside the state in procurement from the state government departments and agencies.
It has been decided to offer an additional three per cent price preference to such units.
Moreover, the state tourism department shall support the development of tourism based on the performing arts of Orissa. These performing arts would be identified by the tourism department with assistance from the department of culture. The tourism department would offer marketing support for the promotion of tourism products based on the identified performing arts and also provide assistance in terms of infrastructure development.
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