TravTalk India Online Magazine
While domestic tourists continue to play a huge role in filling up hotel rooms in India, the Indian Association of Tour Operators (IATO) Eastern Region is closely interacting with the Central Government and the State Government for developing tourism in the eastern region further.
Hazel Jain
As the Chairman of IATO Eastern Region, JK Mohanty is a force to reckon with. He is also the Chairman, Hotel & Restaurant Association of Odisha and CMD of Swosti Group. Sharing his thoughts on the restart of inbound tourism, “After a long gap of 18 months, this is the first time India has allowed foreign tourists on commercial flights to enter the country. Fully vaccinated tourists on chartered flights were allowed to enter starting last month. India has now started allowing fully vaccinated foreign tourists to enter the country on regular flights, in the latest easing of coronavirus restrictions as infections fall and vaccinations rise. To encourage travelers to visit India, the government plans to issue 500,000 free visas through next March. The moves are expected to boost the tourism and hospitality sector which was battered by the pandemic.”
Mohanty informs that the Odisha Government is once again hosting the Men’s Junior Hockey World Cup starting from 24th November 2021 at the Kalinga Stadium in Bhubaneswar, where 16 teams around the world are participating. Having successfully hosted the 2018 FIH Men’s Hockey World Cup at the same venue, the state will once again be lit up with some of the finest in the world battling it out for the coveted Junior World Cup trophy. The teams started arriving in Bhubaneswar and few teams are staying with Swosti Group.
As the Chairman of Hotel & Restaurant Association of Odisha and IATO Eastern Region, he is closely interacting with the Central Government and State Government for the growth of tourism in the Eastern Region. “Virtual meetings have been conducted in regular intervals with the members of HRAO and IATO Eastern Region and the valuable suggestions have been submitted to the Government for promotion of tourism as well as growth of state’s economy. Domestic tourism is playing a big role in filling up hotel rooms in India,” he says.
Odisha has taken up fundamental and far-reaching initiatives to create ‘Inclusive Tourism’. One of the most important cornerstones is that Odisha has taken up initiatives in creating authentic and traditional experiences for tourists and this is supported by their push to create homestays which is excellent. This not only gives the opportunity to showcase the true experience of Odisha to the tourist but also creates economic avenues for the community. Odisha is also supporting its traditional industry like handicrafts and handlooms through tourism. It is also excellent that Odisha is creating traditional wooden boats that will be manned by the local boatmen thus creating livelihoods for them
Weddings season kickstarts
The Indian wedding season is in full bloom and hotels in India are expecting a good business and revenue during this season, says Mohanty. “It is going to be much better and bigger than previous year as the Government has increased gathering capacity limits. We have been flooded with mails and enquiries from guests for marriage bookings and all hotels of Swosti Group have completely blocked on all marriage dates and on non-saya dates as well all the way through till the end of this year,” he says.
Sharing some booking behavior, he says people continue to prefer destination weddings. “The concept of a destination wedding is fast catching eyeballs among the Indian millennials. Odisha, with its widespread forts, lake side, beach resorts have already made their name as prime wedding destinations in India. Needless to says, Swosti Chilika Resort situated at the Chilika Lake, the largest lagoon in the Northern Hemisphere, within a period of four years has been established as a famous wedding destination in eastern India. Swosti Chilika Resort has conducted many memorable destination weddings in the past and this year also we have good number of confirmed destination weddings. The budget for a destination wedding in Odisha is between ` 60 lakhs to ` 1 crore,” he says.
