Bhubaneswar: BJD leader from Bolangir district Shreemayee Sweta Snigdha Mishra Thursday took charge as the Chairperson of the Odisha Tourism Development Corporation (OTDC), a state government enterprise, following a reshuffle in the official posts by the state government.
Mishra arrived at her new office at early office hours and was greeted by the state Tourism Minister Jyoti Prakash Panigrahi among others. She also interacted with other official staff who briefed her about her new office, different units in the corporation and other necessary details. Besides, she was felicitated by the minister and several self help group (SHG) workers on her coronation.
Mishra earlier had served as the Chairperson of the Mahila Vikas Samabaya Nigam, was associated with Mission Shakti and SHG workers. In her brief interaction with the media on the day of joining the office, Mishra assured to connect the SHG workers with the tourism sector.
“I have planned to interlink the women SHG workers with the tourism sector. As OTDC is more into the hospitality sector, I want the women to be given the management responsibilities of the potential tourism sites from different parts of the state,” she told Orissa POST.
She said that her main motive will be to let the Mission Shakti Office and OTDC work in tandem to improve the tourism potential in the state, promote tourism from rural areas and also increase the role of women from remote and rural areas who could not go to office but want to become an agent of change.
Mishra also said that with the inflow of foreign tourists to Odisha through the Hockey World Cup, the state has been exposed to the outside world. The potential of such exposure would be tapped. “Everybody saw how the OTDC played a key role when the foreign players and delegates came in good numbers to Bhubaneswar during the Hockey World Cup. We would now like to scale up that potential.”
She also said that special attention would also be given on feedback mechanism. “I will take personal interest to ensure that the foreign as well as domestic tourists give their feedback through a proper feedback channel so that we can understand the dark spots in the sector and work towards eradicating the same.”
Odisha Tourism Development Corporation (OTDC) official website claims that the organisation is a Government of Odisha undertaking operating the largest chain of hotels in the state under ‘Panthanivas’ brand. It provides one stop travel solutions to the tourists visiting the state.
“OTDC is operating 20 hotels in the state. All its hotels are strategically located, well-maintained and are moderately priced. OTDC operates sightseeing tours from all important Panthanivas hotels on regular basis to nearest tourist locations,” the department said.