Bhubaneswar, June 12: The government is considering a series of incentives for the hotel industry in an attempt to attract more foreign tourists to the state. The incentives will be part of the new tourism policy, which is being drafted by the state government.

"The proposed policy aims to upgrade tourist infrastructure," tourism minister Ashok Chandra Panda told The Telegraph today. It is aimed at encouraging construction of hotels so that more foreign tourists are attracted to the state.

Official sources said the package in the new policy might include stamp duty waiver, VAT exemption and capital investment subsidy for new hotels and the tourism industry.

An exclusive land bank will be set up to provide land at a concession to the hotel industry. The government will acquire land and reserve the area for tourism purposes.

To monitor implementation of the new policy, a tourism promotion council with chief minister Naveen Patnaik at the helm, has been proposed. Besides, a tourism advisory committee may be set up under the chairmanship of the chief secretary.

Chairman of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of Odisha J.K. Mohanty said lack of financial support and land had been a major handicap for hoteliers to come up with new hotels.

"Government support for such fiscal incentive and land bank will definitely help us in building new hotels," he said.

The new tourism policy is expected in August.

Although the state tourism department officials claim that there has been an increase in the foreign tourist footfall over the years, they admit that the number is less than one per cent of the national figure.

It was 0.96 per cent in 2011, 0.97 per cent in 2012 and 0.96 per cent in 2013. The percentage fell to 0.93 in 2014 and further to 0.84 last year.

However, the number of foreign tourists arriving in the state has gone up in absolute terms from 60,722 in 2011 to 71, 426 in 2014, said the officials.