Bhubaneswar, Feb. 8: Three years after Orissa officially became Odisha, it continues to be known by its old name in the maps of the state used in bulk for tourism promotion.
These maps are available aplenty at tourist offices across the state and are distributed at road shows organised in different parts of the country, the last one having been held in Patna. The name of the state was changed on November 1, 2011, but the tourism department continues to use maps printed in 2001.
Little wonder that tourism promotion has gone for a toss even though tourism minister recently visited the US for the purpose and the department has been organizing road shows in various parts of the country. It is not just the map glitch, the department even lacks attractive publicity material including brochure.
The glossy brochures were printed for the first time in 2007. They were reprinted with some additions and alterations in 2011-12. Ahead of the New York Times Travel Show on January 21, the same eight brochures were printed again with a new getup. These, however, are yet to reach the public as the print was largely meant for the tourism delegation that represented Odisha in the US.
These brochures are now available for Puri, Bhubaneswar, Chilika, Konark, Chandipur, Bhitarkanika, Similipal and Gopalpur-on-sea. Occasional brochures were printed on events such as the car festival, Rajarani and Mukteswar music and dance festivals and places such as Raghurajpur and Dandashi in Puri for art and craft.
Tour operator Debashish Mohapatra said: "The tourism department should come up with brochures of new destinations so that budget tourists can benefit more. Operators can also use them to attract domestic tourists."
"We have no funds to print new brochures this year. But in future, we will definitely add more destinations to our list of publications," tourism director Ashok Kumar Tarenia told The Telegraph.
Interestingly, important tourism destinations such as Dhauli on the city outskirts with the international peace pagoda and the historic Ashokan edict has no separate brochure. These sites are visited by thousands of tourists every day. According to the 213 tourism data, of the nearly 9.13 lakh domestic tourists who visited Dhauli, 5,981 came from foreign countries.
"I have come to Dhauli for the first time, but could not find a simple booklet on the monument either at my hotel nor near the pagoda. As the place has got a huge historical importance and was associated with the transformation of emperor Ashok, the authorities should pay some attention to it,'' said Akshay Das, a tourist from New Delhi.
Interestingly, the state tourism map, which is available at tourist offices across the state and at road shows in various metro cities, the state is still called Orissa, despite the fact that the name was changed to Odisha on November 1, 2011. The map was last printed in 2001. On many brochures, an additional rubber stamp mark is also seen regarding the change of name.
A senior official said proposal was given to the department for publication of at least eight new brochures in the past, but no decision was taken on them. Important destinations such as Daringbadi, Satkosia, Harishankar, Khandagiri and Udayagiri, Mangalajodi and the circuit comprising major places in and around Chhatrapur are missing. The newsletter of the tourism department, which was published till 2003-04 was never revived during the last decade.
