Government to enact law for regulatation of tour operators

Bhubaneswar, Oct 17 (UNI) Orissa Minister for Tourism Debi Prasad Mishra today announced plans for the enactment of a law for regulation of unauthorised tour operators and to ensure safety of the tourists.

Mr Mishra told news persons here, after a meeting with the tour operators here, that the government was contemplating to revise the guidelines for regulating tour operators and if necessary a law would be enacted for the purpose.

The minister said the revised guidelines will be prepared on the basis of the national tourism guidelines and the practices followed in other states.

He said the need for revising the guidelines and enacting a law arose due to the rise in tourist inflow during the last few years.

Mr Mishra said the state recorded a 15 per cent growth in tourist flow and the state was trying to improve the infrastrcture to woo tourists to the state.

He said though 68 tour operators were registereed with the Tourism Department some of them were non existent.The Minister directed the authority to update the registered tour operators by the end of this month.

The meeting decided to organise a symposium next month to discuss the problems faced by the tour operators and the corrective measures needed to be taken to resolve their problems.

UNI