Paradip, Dec. 27: Global exposure hasn't transalted into more foreign tourist inflow at Bhitarkanika National Park.
The national park received global exposure after the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources team recently visited for likely conferment of world heritage tag on the wetland site. The development, however, has failed to pay dividends in terms of larger footfall of international tourists.
Of 66,971 international tourists visiting the state last year, only 211 paid a visit to the park.
"As many as 207 foreigners had visited Bhitarkanika in 2014 while the inflow was 211 next year. This year, about 150 foreigners visited the national park till November end," district tourism officer Bijoy Kumar Mohanty.
Those involved in tourism sectors attribute the decline in foreign tourist visits to the hassles in mandatory registration of overseas visitors.
Foreigners arriving here are allegedly victims of official apathy. In name of verification of visa, passport and registration, forest officials are simply harassing the visitors. "The foreigners are being stranded for at least an hour at the divisional forest office during verification," alleged a local tourist operator, Samarendra Biswal.
Last week, a group of international tourists had been halted for more than two hours for registration. "As the overseas visitors are being shabbily treated, foreign tourists visiting to Bhitarkanika is dropping," felt a local tourist guide, Pradip Das.
"There may be stray cases of delayed registration. The department is taking best possible efforts to ensure that registration of foreign tourists does not get inordinately delayed," said divisional forest officer Bimal Prassana Acharya.
An international tourist is required to furnish photocopy of passport, visa and three recent passport size photos during the registration process. No fee is charged for registration. The registration of foreigners has been made mandatory according to the direction received from the bureau of immigration, ministry of home affairs, he said.
