By-Manish Kumar
New Delhi: The state tourism
department seems to be pouring out huge amounts of funds out of taxpayers’
money on “official trips” to foreign countries ostensibly to promote tourism in
the state, even though hardly any positive results are seen in the number of
foreigners visiting the state.
More than Rs 1 crore – Rs 1,07,62,478, to be precise –
was spent by the tourism department in two foreign trips by its officials in
2015, said the department in response to an RTI application filed by Orissa
POST seeking information on funds it spent on foreign trips.
The two trips were made by a group of around five
officials of the department to Berlin and London last year. State tourism
minister Ashok Chandra Panda was also a part of the touring delegation.
According to the department, the high expenses were
incurred on heads such as payment of participation fees at tourism fairs,
airfare of the delegations, accommodation of officials and the minister in the
foreign countries, construction of stands at the fairs, DA, insurance and a
category simply referred to as “miscellaneous”.
Astonishingly, the department spent around `20 lakh
alone at the World Travel Mart in London for construction of a stand. Expenses
for the same at ITB in Berlin were `19 lakh, revealed the RTI reply. These
stands contained photographs and other display material intended to highlight
tourism destinations of Orissa.
But despite these expensive junkets, there has been no
rise in the number of foreign tourists visiting Orissa. The inflow of foreign
tourists to Konark has, in fact, kept declining in the last five years as
reported by Orissa POST July 3. The state tourism minister also admitted in the
state Assembly that the inflow of foreign tourists to the state has declined in
2015.
Experts in the tourism sector blamed this scenario on
a distinct lack of vision of the state tourism department, saying the
department has failed in using funds properly for promoting tourism in Orissa.
“The falling interest of foreigners in visiting Orissa
is due to the state’s non-organised tourism sector, which prevents a large
number of foreigners from visiting the state. Some states like Goa, Rajasthan
and Kerala are flourishing because they have a better organised tourism sector.
Foreigners prefer states that offer better and organised services,” said
Himanshu Das, vice-president of All Orissa Travel and Tour Operators, to Orissa
POST.
Many tour operators and private tourism sector players
who take part in such foreign events at their own cost said the state
government’s tourism department officials do not enthusiastically work for
boosting tourism while in foreign countries.
“Most of them just sit in their stands waiting for
people to come and interact with them. They do not on their own meet global
tour operators and work for arrangements to ensure better tourist inflow from
their countries. Public money is wasted if the government delegations do not do
their jobs honestly and use such funds to merely visit foreign countries
largely for shopping,” said a private tour operator who took part at the World
Travel Trade in London.
An official from the state tourism department,
however, said the funds were used to promote Orissa Tourism in foreign
countries.
“The delegation met many foreigners there and showed
them Orissa’s tourism-related strengths through multimedia, posters and direct
interactions and meetings,” he added.
At a time when the department spends lavishly on
foreign trips, there seems to be little effort to fill the posts of tourist
officers lying vacant in the state, pointed out experts. Tourist officers act
as the medium between the department and tourists wishing to travel to
different parts of the state.
