Odisha Government Plans Konark Makeover With New Facilities For Tourists

Bhubaneswar/Puri: In a move to boost tourist inflow to Odisha, the state tourism department has come up with a new idea of providing tent facilities for tourists visiting Sun Temple in Konark. A meeting in this regard was held in Lokaseva Bhavan under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy.

As per reports, Odisha government is mulling over an idea to retain the tourists coming to Konark and its periphery for at least two to three days. 50 acres of land has been earmarked for setting up around 50 tents which can be used by tourists for overnight stay. This will help them explore the other sightseeing destinations in the area and adjoining tourism hotspots.

Along with tenting facilities, the government has planned to provide food, water sports, adventure sports and cultural programmes for the visiting tourists in Konark.

Sources said, the new initiative will be implemented on a pilot basis from the upcoming winter season. Initially the tents will be set up for one month and the duration will be extended in the future if the demand increases.

Vishal Dev, Secretary of Tourism Department said, “We want to give Konark a complete makeover so that tourists who visit the destination will come prepare to spend at least two to three days instead of a single day as most of them prefer to do nowadays."

It’s worth mentioning here that sans adequate number of luxury hotels in and around the world heritage site, tourists generally don't stay here overnight which forces them to miss out on many places of interest in and around Konark.