Over 17k foreigners visited state during hockey WC

Bhubaneswar: The high-voltage promotional activities by the state government in different countries ahead of the Men’s Hockey World Cup seems to have yielded results as over 17,500 foreigners visited Odisha during the mega event from November 28 to December 16.
Official sources in the tourism department said as many as 1,483 foreigners visited during November 2018 with the number going up to 16,105 in December 2018.

“We had expected around 20,000 foreigners but this number is also satisfactory,” said a tourism department official requesting anonymity. Similarly, 9,289 foreigners visited the state during the Asian Athletics Championships held in July 2017 in which athletes from more than 40 Asian countries participated.

To promote the event globally and draw tourists, the state government conducted bus advertising campaigns in London, Sydney and Munich. The campaign projected Odisha as a sporting destination and tourism hotspot. The state also participated in tourism conclaves.

Besides family members of players and officials, many tourists from Europe and Australia visited the state as three European countries — England, Belgium and Netherlands — and Australia played till the semi-finals.

The state government has used the event to promote its art, culture and tourism destinations among players from the 16 participating countries. Special tour packages were launched by the Odisha Tourism Development Corporation during the event to facilitate visits by tourists.

Players from various teams and officials were taken on sightseeing to ancient temples, museums and other tourist spots near the city during breaks between matches. The aim of the tour was that people should know about the state, its culture and heritage. Though official figures on arrival of international tourists to Odisha during 2018 is yet to be made public, tour operators expect a 30% to 40% jump in numbers as compared to previous years.