“Turbocharging Tourism”

Sachin Ramchandra Jadhav belongs to that rare breed of bureaucrats who not just think out of the box but make copious efforts in grounding ambitious plans. Soon after taking over the mantle of Director, Tourism, Mr Jadhav took a flurry of steps to bolster the sector.
During peak Covid pandemic in early 2020, the raging virus had knocked down the tourism sector. The virulent pandemic quarantined people indoors and imposed curbs on travel as a result of which all the stakeholders in the travel and tourism sector bore the brunt. Odisha where tourism contributes 10 per cent to the state GDP suffered a devastating impact from this Black Swan event. Back then, the size of the state’s tourism sector was estimated at around Rs 60,000 crore and it engaged 10 per cent of the total work pool.
“As soon as the lockdown started, we started making diligent efforts. Our objective was to restore the normalcy in tourism sector and bring it back to the pre-Covid level. The most important thing then was to pump investments in infrastructure and providing support to the stakeholders in hospitality and travel and trade sectors. The thrust was on giving confidence to the stakeholders and tourists”, Jadhav said in an interview.
Under his stewardship, Odisha has broken the perception wall. The Eco retreat destination and the roaring success garnered by the Glamping fests in tourism are pointers to why Odisha is no longer pigeonholed as a limited tourism hub. In terms of diversity of tourism products, Odisha offers much more on the platter than Kerala or Goa, asserts Jadhav. Whether it is religious tourism, spiritual tourism, tribal tourism, wildlife tourism or adventure tourism, Odisha is second to none.
“We were successful in repeating the success of Eco Retreat and more destinations were added under its purview. We have lined up new products like cruise tourism. The state government is rigorously working on promotion and infrastructure development. The stereotypes on Odisha have changed and we are working on perception management”, he says.
He exudes confidence that sooner than later, Odisha will get its rightful place in tourism in the global economy.
The Odisha tourism department collaborated with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (Ficci) to host the 4th Edition of Odisha Travel Bazar (OTB) 2022, the flagship tourism expo.
The primary intent of the Odisha Travel Bazar 2022 was to erect a platform for the aggressive propagation of the picturesque tourist destinations of Odisha, both domestically within India and also on an international scale. The state government has implemented a strategic plan to position Odisha as an all-encompassing, diverse tourism hub of world-class stature by presenting a new, invigorating vision of the state.
The summit primarily centered around the Business-to-Business (B2B) meetings between the Tourism Fraternity of Odisha, who acted as the sellers, and the Domestic Tour Operators (DTOs) as well as the Foreign Tour Operators (FTOs). The attendees were then treated to familiarization trips to various tourism destinations within the state. Additionally, Business-to-Government (B2G) meetings with investors and airline operators were also scheduled as part of the event.