Seafood-cum-beach tourism in Odisha

Odisha has a wealth of tourism resources. Some of the most important features would be tourist mounuments, pristine beaches, diverse flora and fauna, and unique tribal culture. The state Govt. does try to promote tourism in it's own efforts. But, it has taken a beating due to lack of diversified brand image. Today, Odisha is popular for it's religious tourism in Puri and getting the Konark sun temple as a package..

I would suggest that, the Govt. should focus on the capacity of aqua-based products as a major driver to create a brand image. Imagine a concept, which, basically show-cases the following.

a) A resort at a pristine beach.
b) Specialisation in sea-food related cuisine
c) A by-product would be focus on Odia cusine.

The plan paper should be like this.

1) Provide a small piece of land (less than say 2 acres or, approx. 80,000 sq. ft).
2)Govt. provides a loan to a private entreprenuer(Local) .
3) In return, the Govt. has a stake in the project.
4)Creation of an expert team which can guide the local entreprenuer in setting up and managing the project.
5) A tie-up with a management institute for guidance

The crux would be that, this would develop local entreprenuership as opposed to looking only for big investors. Local entreprenuership will always create more jobs. Also, big investments take a long time to fructify..

The Idea behind a beach-cum-seafood resort is that, it provides a chance to create a brand image, which, can be used to develop the brand image of Odisha. The Marketing potential for such an enterprise is huge and cheap. Internet could be a medium. There will be no need to spend money to buy Media space in expensive TV channels. Today, the travel industry is looking for new and innovative ideas..Also, most of the travel Industry depends on Internet for it's marketing and revenues.

A chain of such resorts along the coastline will act as a feather in Odisha's cap.