Tourists might soon be able to enjoy a stay at houseboats in Chilika, Odisha

Odisha Government, in a move to boost water-based tourism in this region, has now decided to start houseboat operation in Chilika Lake and Bhitarkanika National Park.

Referring to this, Tourism Secretary Vishal Dev stated that during the first phase, the houseboat facilities would be available in Chilika and Bhitarkanika. He stated that these houseboats will be run by private operators on operation and management basis.
It was in July that Odisha Tourism Development Corporation conducted a three-day familiarisation trip to Bhitarkanika and Chilika with the sole aim of attracting more foreign and domestic circuits.

In addition to this, the Tourism Secretary also mentioned that 9 tourism circuits and 13 destinations will be selected in different parts of the state, which will be developed under new tourism promotion activities. The major circuits in India will include Rambha tourism cluster, Gandhi Circuit, Kantilo Cluster, Sun City Konark, Samuka Beach, Buddhist Circuit, Konark Marine Drive Eco Retreat, Daringibadi, starting houseboat operation at various places, surfing festival at Puri and Dak Bungalow trail in Odisha. And, to further promote tourism, road shows will be organised in Ahmedabad, Varanasi, Chennai, Surat, Jaipur, and Raipur; as road show that had already been held in Kolkata, Kochi, Delhi, Bangalore, Guwahati, and Hyderabad had generated good response.

Reportedly, the state had been registering a footfall of around 1.5 crore domestic tourists every year as against around 1 lakh of foreign tourists. The state tourism department is now, therefore, pulling up all strings to ensure that the footfall of tourists is boosted in this part of the country.