Orissa initiates measures to develop beach tourism

Bhubaneswar, Mar 3 (UNI) In a bid to attract both the domestic and foreign tourists to various beaches in Orissa, the state government has directed the authorities to clean the beaches and provide all comfort to the visitors.

Orissa Tourism Minister S N Patra, who held a high level meeting here yesterday, said all these were initiated on the suggestion of the German and Russian tour operators, who recently paid visit to some of the beaches, including the Puri beach, to identify the sites for finalising the tourist packages.

Mr Patra said an open theatre would be soon set up at the Puri beach and arrangements would be made to organise evening cultural shows daily to entertain the tourists.

He said he had asked the state Superintendent of Police to train and deploy at least 20 tourist police in the first phase to take care of the tourists problems on the beach. Besides, local youths would be trained in swimming to keep a strong vigil on the tourists taking bath in the sea beach.

Mr Patra said the state government had shortlisted five major companies, which had shown keen interest in developing the Special Tourism Complex on the beach for which the government had already acquired 1000 acre of land along the beach.

He said these companies would soon provide their demonstration for the development of the tourism complex so that the government would take a final decision on the ambitious project which after being commissioned under public-private partnership would attract a large number of both foreign and domestic tourists to the state.

The Tourism Minister said the state government had provided fund for the development of Puri-Satpada-Konark-Bhubaneswar tourist circuit and submitted a proposal for another tourist circuit linking the Talsara and Chandipur sea beach in Balasore district.

He said soon the government would sign a MoU with the Radissons groups of Hotels to set up hotels at Konark, Satpada and Bhubaneswar.

An International consultant involved in the development of tourism in Singapore had already been entrusted to prepare a detailed master plan for the development of beach tourism at Talsara, Chandbali, Puri and Gopalpur.

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