Contents

List of Figures 4
List of Tables 5
List of Annexures 6
Abbreviation/Acronyms 7
8
1 Introduction to the Study 9
1.1 Project Background 9
1.2 Project Scope & ToR 9
1.3 Deliverables 10
1.4 Consultant Team 10
1.5 Key Engagement Milestones 11
2 Introduction to Ecotourism 13
2.1 Concept 13
2.2 Emerging Trends 14
2.3 Policy framework 15
3 Leading Practices in Ecotourism 18
3.1 Leading Practices: International 18
3.2 Best Practises: National 21
3.3 Key Takeaways 23
4 Ecotourism in Odisha 26
4.1 Trends in Ecotourism 26
4.2 Institutional mechanism 27
4.3 Initiatives 29
5 Ecotourism Destinations 32
5.1 Rationale for site selection 32
5.2 Destination Analysis 32
5.3 Priority Destinations 35
5.4 Stakeholder Feedbacks 36
6 Roadmap for Ecotourism 39
6.1 Vision 39
6.2 Goals and Targets 40
6.3 Strategic Areas 42
6.4 Institutional Mechanism 47
6.5 Destination Management 48
6.6 Community Benefit Sharing 65
6.7 Action Plans 73
6.8 Way forward 75
Annexures 79

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2 Roadmap for Development of Ecotourism Sector in Odisha Page 3
List of Figures List of Tables
Figure 2-1: Share of Volume: Indian Travellers in 2019 (Bain & Co) 14 Table 2-1: General preferences on ecotourism activities 14

Figure 3-1: Fiordland National Park 19 Table 2-2: General preferences by a typical ecotourist 15

Figure 3-2: Ecolodges at Mai Chau village 19 Table 3-1: Countries known for effective ecotourism policies 18
Figure 3-3: Tourist Bus enroute Fjord Norway 19 Table 3-2: States known for effective ecotourism policies 21
Figure 3-4: Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica 19
Table 3-3: Benchmarking Odisha wrt states popular for ecotourism 23
Figure 3-5: Community leads ecotourism in Kenya 20
Table 3-4: Deriving parameters for destination analysis 24
Figure 3-6: Khajjar lake destination, Himachal Pradesh 22
Table 3-5: Source of information for parameters of destination analysis 24
Figure 3-7: Luxury ecolodges in Palolem, Goa 22
Table 3-6: Ideal destinations for each destination parameter 24
Figure 3-8: Coir Making exhibited in Kumbalangi village 22
Table 4-1: Output- Outcome Framework analysis of Odisha Ecotourism Policy 27
Figure 3-9: Buffer mein Safar at Matkuli, Satpura 22
Table 4-2: List of stakeholders in each segment 28
Figure 3-10: Homestays at Darap village 23
Table 4-3: Roles & Responsibilities of stakeholders 29
Figure 4-1: Emerging areas having higher growth rate in footfalls 26

Figure 4-2: Ecotour Nature Camps in Odisha 30

Figure 5-1: Graph evaluating destination's carrying capacity 34

Figure 5-2: Interactions with SHG in Satkosia 37

Figure 5-3: Interaction with Govt official, Dumduma (left) & Private Entrepreneur, Koraput (right) 37

Figure 6-3: Ecotour Nature Camp at Barehipani (left) & FRH Puranakote, Satkosia (right) 58

Figure 6-4: Machan at Debrigarh (left) and Mandasaru (right) 58

Figure 6-5: Desia Koraput 58

Figure 6-6: Shaam-e-Sarhad Resort, Hodka, Gujarat 59

Figure 6-7: Lotus Resort, Konark 59

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List of Annexures Abbreviation/Acronyms
Pg. No. Chapter 1: Chapter 5:
Sl No Chapter Name (Annex Section) Govt. Government Seg. Segment
A Pattern of Foreign Visits in Odisha 82 NGOs Non-Governmental Organisations Tour. Tourism
B Pattern of Domestic Visits in Odisha 84 Del Deliverables ATMs Any Time Machine
C Pattern of Nature Based Visits in Odisha 88 Chapter 2: ODF Open Defaecation Free

Analysis of Ecotourism Overview in Odisha UN United Nations Chapter 6:

a. Visitation & Revenue
D 90 UNWTO
United Nations World Tourism
Feds Federations
b. Infrastructure Organisation
c. Competitors
PA Protected Areas PPP Public Private Partnerships
E Analysis of Ecotourism Destinations in Odisha 105
ESZ Eco Sensitive Zone PPC Public Private Community
Institutional Frameworks in Ecotourism
F a. Kerala Responsible Tourism Mission 126 Ministry of Environment, Forest and
MOEF & CC WDI Wildlife Distribution Index
Climate Change
b. Madhya Pradesh Ecotourism Development Board (MPEDB)
Chapter 3: EVI Ecological Value Index
Community Benefit Sharing
G a. Tadoba Case study 128 USD United States Dollars EAI Ecotourism Attractivity Index

TTCI Tourism & Travel Competitive Index ERI Environmental Resiliency Index
WEF World Economic Forum EDI Ecotourism Diversity Index
SPV Special Purpose Vehicle WWF World Wild Federations
United Nations Educational, Scientific and
HPES Himachal Pradesh Ecotourism Society UNESCO
Cultural Organisation
VSS Vana Samrakshana Samidhis RTL Register Transfer Level
DTPC District Tourism Promotion Councils STCI Sustainable Tourism Criteria for India
EDCs Eco Development Committees DMU Destination Management Unit
World Travel and Tourism Council- India
WTTCII CC Carrying Capacity
Initiative

USP Unique Selling Point SOPs Standard Operating Procedures

Infra Infrastructure OES Odisha Ecotourism Society
Madhya Pradesh Ecotourism
Web Website MPEDB
Development Board
Chapter 4: SHGs Self Help Groups
OFDC Odisha Forest Development Corporation PCCF Principal Chief Conservator of Forest
Dept. Department CEO Chief Executive Officer
ETG Eco Tourism Group CCF Chief Conservator of Forest
EDC Eco Development Committees OEDB Odisha Ecotourism Development Board
LAC Local Advisory Committee DFO Divisional Forest Officer
Odisha Tourism Development
OTDC FRO Forest Range Officers
Corporation
WLS Wild Life Sanctuaries FCA Forest Conservation Act
USP Unique Selling Point COVID Coronavirus Disease

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 1 Introduction to the Study

1.1 Project Background

Odisha is considered as one of the emerging contenders in the ecotourism market in the country. The state
is blessed with immense natural offerings and lately it has made a huge stride in the ecotourism market
through aggressive branding. This engagement is intended to draw a Roadmap for further augmenting the
ecotourism sector in Odisha. The study would guide the state to evolve as a leading ecotourism destination
of highest standards by deriving inspirations from similar and successful models in India and abroad.

1.2 Project Scope & ToR

The Consultant were entrusted with project development advisory from inception to the development of a
comprehensive roadmap. The entire scope of the engagement is listed below:

1.1.1 Study ecotourism practices and trends at the state, national and international levels:

a. Overview of ecotourism globally and locally (Various facets of ecotourism, multitude of

offerings/products/packages, features and kind of audience to attract and cater to, etc.)
b. Analyze different practices and key trends in ecotourism at national and international levels
c. Review of Acts / rules / regulations applicable to Ecotourism
d. Attributes around positioning / volumes / tourist profile / experience / impact on economy, society and
environment
e. Livelihood creation for creating economic drivers

1.1.2 Ecotourism in Odisha

a. Overview of ecotourism in Odisha (covering Ecotour Odisha and other initiatives) – Collation of relevant
secondary data/ reports etc. from Govt departments, etc.
b. Odisha ecotourism features & core product offerings (Natural and cultural heritage, Protected Areas,
Biodiversity, indigenous community, etc.) – Based on ecotourism
c. Ecotourism potential – Stakeholders, natural & cultural products
d. Ecotourism development – problems and constraints
e. Destination level situation analysis / baseline analysis
► Analysis of prominent ecotourism destinations (10 nos.)- tourism resources, infrastructure analysis,
facilities & services, Manpower, etc. visitation analysis – visitor profile, visitation characteristics,
Product audit, competitor analysis, etc.
► SWOT analysis – verification and evaluation of destinations vis-à-vis existing conditions and need
for development - Identification of issues / bottlenecks, etc.
f. Demand assessment of ecotourism in Odisha
g. Benchmarking with respect to National and International ecotourism destinations (3 domestic and 3
international)2
► Benchmarking principles
► Positioning analysis
► Qualitative ecotourism analysis
► Evolving trends based on the situation analysis

1
1.1.3 Preparation of ecotourism Development vision for Odisha

Introduction to the Study a. Vision & Approach towards ecotourism development

b. Goals and strategies - For the overall ecotourism development of the state, individual strategies need to
be formed for each and every important aspect of ecotourism development.
► Productization strategy
► Strategy for enhancing investments in ecotourism sector

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 ►Adoption of Carrying capacity 1.5 Key Engagement Milestones
►Marketing strategy
► Capacity building strategy The key milestones of the engagement are illustrated below:
► Infrastructural requirements – identification
► Community involvement development strategy
► Strategy for development of Ecotourism enterprises (Small and Medium)
► Institutional mechanism for planning, development, impact management and regulation
► Operational Guidelines and Benefit sharing mechanism
c. Action Plans – Strategies need to be broken down into action plans which will be defined based on time-
bound action plans – short, medium and long term.
d. Identification of priority destinations for ecotourism development
► Based on detailed studies of the destination, separate strategies covering the following areas will be
prepared; Preparation of criteria and parameters for identifying priority ecotourism destinations
► Destination development strategy
► Assessment of carrying capacity
► Management controls mechanism

1.3 Deliverables

The engagement had majorly three (3) Deliverables, namely:

1) Inception Report on key trends in ecotourism sector

2) Draft Report on review of ecotourism sector of Odisha and benchmarking study
3) Final Report on Roadmap for development of ecotourism sector of Odisha

The initial deliverable discussed the global and national trends in the ecotourism sector such as relevant
legislations, policies and visitation in detail. Subsequently, development of ecotourism in the state of Odisha
was covered in depth in the second deliverable which included identification of ecotourism offerings and
potentials, initiatives, stakeholders, secondary and primary analysis of destinations with benchmarking
studies. Both these deliverables were submitted separately containing a detailed account of the scope of
study.

In order to ensure wider acceptance, the roadmap is developed in consultation with various stakeholders
particularly the community members/ groups, tourism industry partners, investors, NGOs, academia, Govt.
Departments, etc. This report is a consolidated version of this engagement. The final deliverable focusses
on the strategies and action plan for elevating the ecotourism experience of the state.

1.4 Consultant Team

Ernst & Young LLP (EY) collaborated with Responsible Tourism Society of India (RTSOI) in this engagement
to bring expertise in tourism management consultancy and ecotourism advisory across various sub-domains
such as advocacy, policy and guidelines, strategy, planning, sustainability, certifications, standards,
environmental & social safeguard, skill development, marketing, financial management and institutional
framework development. The team members from the domain experiences contributed effectively during
various stages of the roadmap preparation.

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 2 Introduction to Ecotourism

2.1 Concept

Ecotourism is defined in this section and the major components are identified.

2.1.1 Definition

Ecotourism is presently identified as a set of low impact tourism activities which are primarily nature based
providing direct benefits to the local community. Through our research we have understood that the prevailing
concept of ecotourism development has been evolved through various stages as illustrated below.

Nature based Environmental Personal experiences

offerings and similar conservation & and community
ecosystems preserving social fabric engagement

Travel mostly by sensitive, Low impact activities local capacity building

nature lover travellers, through Responsible and employment
adventure enthusiasts tourism opportunities

2.1.2 Elements

One of the primary objectives of ecotourism is the preservation of its natural offering by ensuring sustainable
destination development. The three element of sustainable development is to be followed as a guiding
principle in ecotourism, as:
► Economy: creating Livelihood options for the community
► Social: without altering their cultural & social fabric
► Environment: through optimum utilisation of resources

Economic
Sustainability

Through optimum Creating Livelihood

utilisation of resources options for the community
Sustainable
Tourism
Development

Environmental Social

2
Sustainability Sustainability

Introduction to Ecotourism
Without altering their
cultural & social fabric

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2.2 Emerging Trends Table 2-2: General preferences by a typical ecotourist

Having understood the theme of ecotourism, the emerging trends in the tourism market favouring this Characteristics of
segment is discussed in this section. Ecotourist American Tourist Asia Pacific tourist European tourist
Household income Middle class Higher Incomes Middle class
2.2.1 Visitation
Average Age 40 35 47
As per the Bain & Co. research on ‘How India Travels, 2019’, the new-age travellers are looking at off-beat
Gender (M: F) Varies by activity 60:40 60:40
destinations to explore, as compared to the ones that have been tried and tested. Travellers are also
interested in adding an intangible element of experiential travel to their itineraries. Moreover, experiential Education 45% graduates Highly educated All levels
oriented travellers, an emerging cohort of Indian travellers is contributing better to the economy through Traveller Cohort 50% couples 45% solo 60% couples
deeper engagement with the communities at these destinations.
40% working
Occupation Varies by activity Varies by activity
professionals

6% Source: Ecotourists: Not a Homogeneous Market Segment / P.A. Wight/ 2005

18% Frequent flyers
Budget business travellers There have been visible trends favouring a push for ecotourism across new age customers until the
31% Experience-oriented travellers disruption due to COVID pandemic in the hospitality market. Even post recovery, the industry relies
21% Budget group travellers heavily on boosting domestic tourism particularly to newer and unexplored destinations which are
nature based, as the impending international travel restrictions and public perception may take a
Ocassional travellers
longer time to heal.
24%
2.3 Policy framework
Figure 2-1: Share of Volume: Indian Travellers in 2019 (Bain & Co)
2.3.1 International
Another research by a leading online tourism aggregator, Booking.com indicates that more than two-thirds
This section examines the relevant global policy framework which support the cause of ecotourism. They are
(68%) of global travellers stayed in an eco-accommodation in 2018, reassuringly up from 65% in 2017 and
summarised as below:
62% in 2016. Among them a vast majority (67%) would have been willing to spend at least 5% more on their
travel to ensure that it was as low impact on the environment as possible. Surprisingly, Indian travellers Sl No Global Framework Mention / elements of Ecotourism
claimed to be the most willing, with nearly a third (32%) declaring that they would pay 15% or more, followed 1. Agenda 21: Includes agenda: "Travel and Tourism Industry: towards
by Brazilians (21%) and Chinese (18%). Environmentally Sustainable Development".
2. Commission on Sustainable Sustainable tourism guidelines at the World Summit on Sustainable
2.2.2 Tourist Profiles
Development Development and emphasized the promotion of sustainable
tourism development etc.
A more descriptive profile of the tourists preferring ecotourism destinations for travel globally in 2018 as
indicated in ‘where-sustainable-travel-is-headed’ collated by Booking.com is provided below. 3. Convention on Biological International guidelines for activities related to sustainable tourism
Diversity development in vulnerable terrestrial, marine and coastal
Table 2-1: General preferences on ecotourism activities ecosystems and habitats of major importance.
Sl No Ecotourism activities Share of Global tourists opted 4. General Agreement on Trade Challenges the conservation and regulatory mechanisms
1 Buying locally made products instead of mass-produced 53% in Services: envisaged for sustainable tourism development.
tourist souvenirs 5. The UN’s Declaration on Sets out the rights of indigenous peoples to participate in decisions
2 Being adventurous and using public transport 52% Rights of Indigenous Peoples: and developments, which affect them and will have major
implications for tourism.
3 Opting for local cuisine 41%
6. The UNWTO Global Code of An attempt to synthesize various documents, codes and
4 Skipping tourist highlights in favour of less busy and often
40% Ethics for Tourism (2000): declarations, this Code recognises tourism, a beneficial activity for
more rewarding sights host countries and communities.
5 Opting for a unique stay option with an eco-certified 7. Agenda 2030 for Sustainable Pledge to ensure sustained and inclusive economic growth, social
30%
accommodation
Development inclusion, and environmental protection, fostering peaceful, just,
and inclusive societies.
Furthermore, a major classification of these tourist profiles reveals that preferences of an ecotourist is not
homogenous across the world and differs with the terrain. A detailed assessment of each of these frameworks could be referred in the inception report, the first
deliverable of this engagement.
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2.3.2 National

Ecotourism in India is conventionally understood as tourism activities inside the Forest areas. In this section,
the various policy framework valid at a pan country level for conduct of ecotourism would be discussed.

2.3.2.1 Legal Framework

The conduct of ecotourism in Indian forests is subjected to several laws, namely,

1. Indian Forest Act, 1927,

2. Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1927,
3. Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980,
4. Forest Rights Act, 2006
5. Environment (Protection) Act, 1986.

A detailed note on the legal framework on each of the above was elaborated in the inception report.

In short, the Indian Forest Act, 1927, and the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972, empower the forest departments
to open the forests for various purposes, including ecotourism. Responding to a long pending demand,
MoEF&CC, Govt of India vide their letter no. file No. 5-2/2017-FC-Part (1) dated 25-10-2021 has issued
guidelines for undertaking detailed Ecotourism activities in the Forest area vis-a vis Forest (Conservation)
Act, 1980, effectively accepting it as a Forestry activity albeit with a few conditions. As far as Forest
(Conservation) Act, 1980 is concerned, the Government of India has declared ecotourism as a non-forest
activity, requiring prior approval of the central government. Forest Rights Act, 2006 provides that the “rights
to protect, regenerate or conserve or manage any Community Forest Resource” (CFR) lies with the Gram-
Sabha of the villages.

Thus, if an area has been allotted to a village as its CFR, the consent of the Gram-Sabha will be mandatory.
As every Protect Area (PA) is required to have an Eco Sensitive Zone (ESZ) around it as per the orders of
the Supreme Court, and an ESZ is required to have a tourism plan, all ecotourism in and around a PA has to
be in accordance with the tourism plan of the ESZ. Lastly, the Supreme Court has also ordered that any
construction of any structures in a PA, other than those exempted by it in its order dated 25.11.2005, need
the prior permission of the Supreme Court.

2.3.2.2 Policy Framework

Ecotourism has been recommended as a legitimate forestry activity in several policy documents of the MOEF
& CC. These policy documents include the National Wildlife Action Plan (2017-2031), National Working Plan
Code 2015. National Ecotourism Policy 2018 provides a framework about the ways in which ecotourism is to
be adapted and promoted in the country. Ecotourism also finds support in upcoming National Forest Policy
2018 (draft). The National Tourism Policy 2002 and the Ecotourism Policy and Guidelines 1998, both issued
by the Ministry of Tourism, also strongly support the adoption of ecotourism in the country.

There is conflict of Interest between the national laws and policies on the question of legitimacy
of ecotourism as a mainstream forestry activity. The state government may take up the matter
with GoI for an early resolution of the conflict.

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3 Leading Practices in Ecotourism 3.1.1 New Zealand

Though country’s tourism strategy is to target

3.1 Leading Practices: International
international business events, film production houses
and high spending visitors, the nature lovers &
As discussed in the previous section, there has been a progressive shift in legal and policy framework
backpackers were accorded a special status. The
governing tourism that has led to inclusion of ‘sustainability’ as a core element of tourism development. In
policies aimed to lay a path towards sustainable &
this section, we look at the countries that have prudent polices supporting nature-based tourism. This section
responsible development. Segmentation of tourists
prioritises five (5) countries from each region comparable to the size of Odisha (155,707 km²).
based on region and spending had helped New
Table 3-1: Countries known for effective ecotourism policies Zealand to strategize ecotourism among the various
Figure 3-1: Fiordland National Park
target markets.
Inbound Tourism Receipts
Sl Area Tourists per Arrival
No Regions Countries (Sq. Km.) 2019- millions 2019- USD 3.1.2 Vietnam
1 Pacific New Zealand 268,021 3.7 2840
Since the 1990s, tourism is seen as a tool of economic
2 Asia Vietnam 331,212 18.0 650 growth and poverty alleviation in Vietnam. The country
pioneered in attracting foreign tourists to experience its
3 Europe Norway 385,207 5.9 1000
rural living at Mai Châu, Phan Xi Păng, Cao Bang and
4 Africa Kenya 580,367 1.9 540 core ecotourism activities at their national parks.
5 Americas Costa Rica 51,100 3.1 1280 Vietnam has diversified its tourism offerings into culture,
culinary and business-retreat tourism. Vietnam’s key
Source: UNTWO Dashboard
skill lies in use of vernacular architecture that blends
with surroundings of the ecotourism destination and has
materialised ecolodges in Mai Chau town or sling-
NORWAY
shaped house of H’Mong Village.
Figure 3-2: Ecolodges at Mai Chau village
Low Carbon
mobility options:
Vybuss 3.1.3 Norway
Apart from the rich natural offerings and green
VIETNAM environment, what Norway excels is in enabling
Branding traditional commute to the ecotourism destinations to be more
COSTA RICA village and cultural
experience responsible through multi-modal low carbon mobility
Certification for the
sustainability of KENYA options. Since vehicle emissions contribute majorly to
tourism
Poacher turned air pollution and put thrust on government to provide
communities
preserving Forests supporting infrastructure, encouraging public transport
during these travels sets a good example of sustainable
NEW ZEALAND
tourism.
Low impact tourism Figure 3-3: Tourist Bus enroute Fjord Norway
activities conducive
to natural
landscape 3.1.4 Costa Rica
As Costa Rica is strategically positioned, it receives a
decent amount of high-end international tourists from
the USA and Canada wanting to explore off-beat natural
landscapes. Having witnessed the repercussions of
unregulated developments and over tourism, today the
country leads global efforts on certifications in
sustainable tourism. These mandates ecofriendly
practices in destinations ranging from waste
management to resource optimisation.

Figure 3-4: Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica

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3.1.5 Kenya 3.2 Best Practises: National

Kenya’s recognises ‘Wildlife-based tourism’ as In this section salient features of few selected states popular for ecotourism in the country would be
central core involving indigenous communities as discussed.
forbearers of tourism, hence ensuring protection of
its socio-cultural and natural heritage. Learnings
from Community-based tourism of Kimana
Community reveals that local ownership, equitable
HIMACHAL SIKKIM
benefit sharing, good governance and political
SPV- Himachal Directorate looks after
control over access and user rights of land Pradesh Ecotourism Ecotourism
resources are the key ingredients of its success. Society Effective waste
management

MADHYA PRADESH
MP Ecotourism
Development Board
manages all
ecotourism activities

ODISHA
MoU between Forest &
Tourism Dept to
GOA promote ecotourism

Figure 3-5: Community leads ecotourism in Kenya Progressive Shift from

mass to nature based
tourism
3.1.6 Benchmarking India KERALA
1st Model Ecotourism
Project- Thenmala,
Parameters related to ecotourism were identified from the Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2019. Kollam
The countries were then assessed on these parameters in comparison to India. Powers to DTPCs

Natural Cultural Tourism Air Transport Environment

Resources Resources Infrastructure Infrastructure Sustainability Nearly all ecotourism policies studied for the various states in India aim to strengthen conservation of forest
Sl and promote community well-being through ecotourism. Common observations were:
No Countries Scores- WEF T&TC Ranking 2019
► Promote community-based or community-managed ecotourism
1 New Zealand 4.3 2 5.8 4.9 4.7
► Ensure Multi-stake holder participation
2 Vietnam 3.8 2.9 2.8 3.4 3.8 ► Propose eco-friendly and low impact infrastructure
► Promote awareness building, capacity building, marketing
3 Norway 3.2 2.2 5.1 5.6 5.8
► Lack of private engagement framework in ecotourism, except for Himachal Pradesh
4 Kenya 4.5 1.5 2.9 2.7 4.5 ► No incentives, subsidies, or tax-concessions to attract private participation
5 Costa Rica 4.9 1.6 5.4 3.1 4.9 Some of the distinctive features of these states are explained in the following sections.
India 4.5 5.5 2.8 4.2 3.6 Table 3-2: States known for effective ecotourism policies

Average 4.2 2.6 4.1 4.0 4.6 Domestic International

Sl Regions- Tourists Tourists Forest Total Area
Though India is bestowed with abundant natural and cultural resources, it lacks stringency in enforcement of No India States 2019- Lakh 2019- Lakh Cover Sq. Km.
the environmental regulations and variables assessing the status of water, forest resources and marine life. 1 North Himachal Pradesh 168 3.8 27% 44,212
Also, the country has a paucity of decent tourism service infrastructure at many potential locations which
2 West Goa 71 9.4 60% 3,702
further pulls down its competency among other nations. Odisha presents largely, a similar situation of the
above analyses. 3 South Kerala 184 11.9 54% 38,852
4 Central Madhya Pradesh 887 3.3 25% 308,252
5 Northeast Sikkim 14 1.3 47% 7,096
6 East Odisha 153 1.2 33% 155,707
Source: National Tourism Statistics 2019, State of Forest Report 2019

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3.2.1 Himachal Pradesh 3.2.5 Sikkim
The Forest Department in Himachal Pradesh has Sikkim has successfully abandoned the use of single
created a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) in the form of use plastic and has best initiatives in in India for
the Himachal Pradesh Ecotourism Society (HPES) at homestays, solid waste management and organic
three levels-State, District and Circle to effectively farming. The state has constituted a structured
promote ecotourism. The state also has a pro-business institutional framework for ecotourism. The Sikkim
attitude in collaborating with the private sector for Ecotourism Directorate at the apex level is supported by
ensuring infrastructure development majorly on short a council of technical experts and advisors. The
term leases. directorate administers the four district ecotourism
offices headed by a deputy director. Further the local
Figure 3-6: Khajjar lake destination, Himachal Pradesh
level committees such as EDCs managing ecotourism
3.2.2 Goa
sites report to the corresponding district offices. Figure 3-10: Homestays at Darap village
Goa began to package its historic, ethnic, natural and
cultural elements along with its core USP of serene
3.2.6 Benchmarking Odisha
beaches to provide a wholesome experience to the
customer in the recent years. No other state has
A detailed study of ecotourism in Odisha is undertaken in Chapter 0. Odisha is benchmarked with the states
achieved to levels of branding & marketing of ecotourism
discussed above on certain parameters crucial for ecotourism development. The parameters with scores
products set by Goa. It also has the presence of most
tabulated in the India State Ranking Survey 2019 by Hotelivate & WTTCII was reviewed as presented below.
branded star hotels in the country which enables the
luxury segment to blend with ecotourism. Table 3-3: Benchmarking Odisha wrt states popular for ecotourism

Effectivene
Figure 3-7: Luxury ecolodges in Palolem, Goa Road & ss of
Tourist Branded Railway Air Green Marketing
3.2.3 Kerala visits Hotel rooms network Connectivity Cover campaign
Sl
Kerala is known for familiarising ecotourism to India channelize tourism development in a No States Scores- India State Ranking Survey 2019
through the Thenmala Ecotourism Project around sustainable manner. 1 Himachal Pradesh 13 0 3 2 14 4
Shenduruney Wildlife Sanctuary in Kollam. This novel
initiative helped the Forest Department form community 2 Goa 14 10 7 4 17 8

groups called Vana Samrakshana Samidhis or Eco- 3 Kerala 17 8 9 6 17 10

Development Committees (in absence of strong
4 Madhya Pradesh 20 0 4 2 11 6
community) to manage the ecotourism destinations.
Other important achievement of Kerala is in 5 Sikkim 4 2 3 2 17 2
decentralising tourism administration and collaborating
Odisha 10 0 6 2 14 6
with affiliated departments. Powers have been devolved
with the local units like District Tourism Promotion Average 13 3 5 3 15 6
Councils (DTPCs) and EDCs in tourism infrastructure
development, branding and promotions. It has also Odisha is presently incompetent with the states popular for ecotourism majorly due to paucity of decent
Figure 3-8: Coir Making exhibited in Kumbalangi village
pioneered the Responsible Tourism Mission to tourism assets and offerings. Recent leads in branding through aggressive promotion have generated a
perception change among the visitors. The state is still at a nascent stage of ecotourism development and
3.2.4 Madhya Pradesh this roadmap would guide the future course of actions.
The state formed Madhya Pradesh Ecotourism
Development Board in 2005 as a dedicated body for the
3.3 Key Takeaways
conservation of biodiversity and the promotion of
In addition to developing a framework for the ecotourism roadmap in Odisha, the methodology for further
ecotourism in the state. It is endowed with the
analysis of the study in evaluating the ecotourism destinations were derived from this Chapter.
responsibilities of planning, developing, and branding
eco-tourism sites. The executive committee of the board
3.3.1 Destination analysis methodology
is chaired by the Principal Secretary, Forest
Department. The board is also known for opening up the
The parameters used in Benchmarking of countries and states were categorised and collated to obtain the
areas outside the PA for ecotourism, through initiatives
baseline framework to analyse ecotourism destinations in Odisha (Detailed in Chapter 5).
like ‘Buffer mein Safar’ events.
Figure 3-9: Buffer mein Safar at Matkuli, Satpura

Roadmap for Development of Ecotourism Sector in Odisha Page 22 Roadmap for Development of Ecotourism Sector in Odisha Page 23
Table 3-4: Deriving parameters for destination analysis
Parameters for Destination
WEF T&T Competitiveness Index India State Ranking Survey- WTTCII Analysis for the Study
► Natural Attractiveness
Tourists visits Attractions (USP of a Tourist
► Cultural Attractiveness
Destination)
► Tourist Service Infrastructure
Environmental Sustainability Green Cover Carrying Capacity
► Air transport infrastructure ► Road & Rail infrastructure
Accessibility
► Ground and port infrastructure ► Aircraft Movement
Effectiveness of marketing
ICT readiness Visibility
campaign
► Health & Hygiene
► Safety & security
Branded hotel rooms Infra Quality
► Human resources & labour
market

The data points and source of information for each of them is as described below:

Table 3-5: Source of information for parameters of destination analysis

Sl No. Parameters Source

Attractions (USP of a Tourist

1 Destination)
Primary and secondary analysis of a destination’s offerings

Sustainability (Carrying
2 Environmental thrust and infrastructural capacity
Capacity)
Ease of access to the destination through multiple modes & routes
3 Accessibility
to reach the destination
Popularity in digital media, the available literature, news items and
4 Visibility
general perception
5 Infra Quality Assets, Amenities, Soft-skills, Hospitality skills,
Experience quality* The ‘total experience’ a tourist derived out of his visit to the
ecotourism destination, that may also contribute to his future
6 decision of visiting it again and recommending the destination to
*additional parameter
others.

These parameters were then evaluated on the scale of 1-10 with 1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest
for each destination on a comparative analysis. The threshold limits were simulated from destinations which
could benchmarked on each of the parameters as indicated below.

Table 3-6: Ideal destinations for each destination parameter

Parameters Benchmarking Destination (score 10) Factors

Attractions Corbett National Park Synonymous with spotting ‘Tigers’
Carrying Capacity Satpura National Park Diverse offerings in the PA
Accessibility Sanjay Gandhi National Park Proximity to Mumbai
Visibility Ranthambhore National Park Popular in web feeds/ social media
Infra Quality Tadoba Quality of trainings, guides, narration
Experience Quality Kanha National Park, Ulley Valley User satisfaction/ word of mouth

Roadmap for Development of Ecotourism Sector in Odisha Page 24

4 Ecotourism in Odisha 4.2 Institutional mechanism

4.1 Trends in Ecotourism 4.2.1 State Ecotourism Policy 2013

The ecotourism offerings and products are studied by reviewing existing policy and regulations, evaluating Odisha has promulgated State Ecotourism Policy in 2013. In this section the key outputs and outcomes of
key initiatives and interventions, analysing key trends in ecotourism and identifying major challenges. this policy is discussed as per the framework below.

Table 4-1: Output- Outcome Framework analysis of Odisha Ecotourism Policy

4.1.1 Foreign visits
Output Outcomes
Among the foreign tourists visiting state, the golden triangle receives about 80% of the footfall. Key Sl No. (Strategies/ Action Points) (Status)
destinations for foreign visitations in the state are Bhubaneswar, Puri, Dhauli and Konark. Districts in the ► Aggressive marketing of ecotourism
northern and southern regions had higher growth rate in foreign visitation. Improved connectivity with the destinations over recent years
neighbouring states and safer conditions could have played an important role in promoting tourism in these 1 Identification of Unique Selling Point (USP)
► USP in ecotourism as a brand identity at
regions. (Details in Annexure A) nascent stage

4.1.2 Domestic visits ► Skilled over 600 communities in ecotourism

► Centre of Excellence in Responsible tourism yet
It is observed that the golden triangle continues to entice more than half of the domestic tourists coming into Capacity in the designing, establishment and to be established
2
the state. Puri and Khorda districts having destinations of Jagannath temple, Konark sun temple, management ► This study is seen a step towards research on
Bhubaneswar city, Nandankanan zoo and Chilika lake mostly receives majority of the footfalls. Recent trends best practices guidelines, codes, standards,
indicate increasing popularity for tribal areas and natural landscapes in the state among the travelers. (Details audits, accreditation schemes and models
in Annexure B) ► ‘Ecotour Odisha’ launched- provides
information and reservation of ecotourism
4.1.3 Eco-visits 3 Creation of Website nature camps.
► Not synchronised with online aggregators;
About 15% of the total visitations were recorded at locations known for natural landscapes in 2019. Again, website has limited public reach (hits/ views)
the northern and southern areas were emerging areas in nature-based travels (Details in Annexure C). These
► 47 destinations being developed with minor
are mapped as illustrated below.
Developing Ecotourism destinations with ecotourism engagements with the help of local
ecolodges that demonstrate best practises of community.
4
renewable resources, community ► Destinations yet to replicate the best practising
management and experiential learning models in consumption of renewable sources
and solid waste management
► Visitation and Revenue recorded for each
nature camps
► Detailed study on impact of ecotourism on
5 Research & Monitoring the Policy wildlife and community yet to be carried.
► Delineation of Tourism zones and determining
Carrying capacity in Protected Areas yet to be
studied in detail
► Odisha Ecotourism Development Board
(OEDB) constituted but is not proactive in
regularly monitoring policy’s objectives
6 Institutional Mechanism/ Nodal Agency
► Paucity of technical and financial resources
► MoU between Forest Dept. & Tourism Dept. for
promotion of Odisha ecotourism
► About 80 ETG/EDCs formed in active societies
7 Destination Management Committees ► In absence of such societies, Local Advisory
Committee (LAC) is not formulated

Figure 4-1: Emerging areas having higher growth rate in footfalls

Roadmap for Development of Ecotourism Sector in Odisha Page 26 Roadmap for Development of Ecotourism Sector in Odisha Page 27
 Table 4-3: Roles & Responsibilities of stakeholders
Output Outcomes
Sl No. (Strategies/ Action Points) (Status) Key Stakeholders Roles
Establishment of Tourism facilities within 5 ► Developing tourism sites in the forest land
8 km of ecotourism area under Public-Private- ► No projects executed ► Initiatives taken/planned for promotion of Tourism (Eco/
Community (PPC) 1. Dept. of Forest & Environment Wildlife/ Adventure)
► Tourism Master Plans in PAs
“Local conservation cess” on all privately-run
► Carrying capacity
9 tourist facilities within 5 km of the boundary ► Not levied
of the ecotourism area ► Policies and interventions.
► Creation of tourism infrastructure along ecotourism sites
Development of private Guest Houses and
► Promote and encourage cultural heritage
tourist lodges enroot and outside the ► Not Planned nor executed by OFDC/OTDC Ltd
► Organizing annual festivals and exhibitions
10 Protected Area / Forests limits should be in potential areas 2. Dept. of Tourism
► Encourage local cuisine and village arts & crafts.
planned and developed by the OFDC Ltd ► Few assets created by Private Operators
► Mapping/ identification of intangible tourism assets
/OTDC Ltd / Private Operators
► Branding and Promotion
The forest staff posted in the Protected ► Industry collaboration
Areas should be sensitized and trained to
► Forest staffs trained as guides ► Community resource management for poor and
interact and facilitate the eco-tourists and
► Emphasis to be given on storytelling and multi- marginalized tribal families.
11 explained about the various aspects of
lingual ability through regular hospitality 5. Govt. of Odisha (various dept.) ► Upgrading Rural Infra and Community Involvement
conservation and development of
trainings ► Health care infrastructure in rural areas
wilderness, forests & wildlife and natural
► Assessing Environment Implications of development
resource.
6. State Institute of Hotel Management
4.2.2 Key Stakeholders (SIHM), Balangir
► Ready reckoning recruitment pool for the hospitality sector.
7. National Institute of Hotel
► Capacity development and vocational training
Stakeholders from various categories have been identified for the consultation in this assignment are listed Management & Tourism,
below Bhubaneswar
8. NGOs and Community
Table 4-2: List of stakeholders in each segment
development orgs. ► Community participation
Segment Identified Stakeholders 9. Local Communities ► Promote Village Tourism and Tourism Cooperatives
► Dept. of Forest & Environment 10. Welfare bodies
► Dept. of Tourism 11. Hotels, Resorts, Ecolodges
1. Government
► Odisha Tourism Development Corporation Ltd. (OTDC) 12. Hotel Association ► Assist in ascertaining opportunities and challenges faced by
► Odisha Forest Development Corporation (OFDC) the Hotel Industry
13. Tour Operators and local service
► State Institute of Hotel Management (SIHM), Balangir providers – association ► List of registered hotels and stays in Odisha
2. Hospitality Training
► National Institute of Hotel Management & Tourism, Bhubaneswar representatives
► EDCs, ETGs
3. Community ► NGOs 4.3 Initiatives
► Gram Sabha
► Hotels, Resorts, Ecolodges
4.3.1 Ecotour Nature Camps
4. Tourism and Hospitality
► Tour Operators and local service providers – association
Industry In 2016, Forest & Environment Department initiated “Community Managed Nature Tourism” in Odisha. It was
representatives
a five-year scheme (2016-17 to 2020-21) for development of Ecotourism with a budgetary allocation of Rs.
56 Crore. Forest dependent communities are made stakeholders in ecotourism projects and major share of
revenue generated from is given back to community. Around 600 trained local community members are now
managing 42 nature tourism destinations (285 rooms, 613 capacity). The initiative provided an alternative
income for the community which were entirely reliant on forest produce. They have also got an opportunity
to sell their products as a raw material at nature camps.

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 Figure 4-2: Ecotour Nature Camps in Odisha

The ecotourism nature camps were further studied in detail on footfall, revenue, infrastructure, tourism
resources and branding. A summary of the findings is outlined below. (Details in Annexure D)

a. Visitation & Revenue

There has been a fourfold increase in the tourist footfall & six times increase in the revenues over the last
four years. However, this doesn’t portray a fair assessment on the performance of the nature camps since
most of them were built and operated in recent years. Hence this study evaluates these properties based on
the following:
► Spending propensity of tourists: Tourists spend roughly INR 1500 per capita per day and their stay at a
location is utmost 2 days. Nature camps at Sambalpur, Kandhamal and Ganjam were showing higher
spending.
► Revenue per room key: Average revenue earned per room key were estimated to Rs. 2.1 Lakh in 2019-
20 for the camps. Nature camps at Debrigarh, Satkosia and Daringbadi were top performing.

b. Infrastructure
From the study the following observations were drawn on the impact of connectivity on the nature camps:
► The proximity to a connectivity node/ roads is directly proportional to volume of visits except in few cases
where popularity of the destination ensures visitors
► The popularity of a destination is a key factor than ease of connectivity among higher spending tourists

c. Competitors:
In this assignment the following inferences were drawn on the impact of competition from private
accommodation units on the nature camps:
► The nature camps gained less attention in places which have considerable private accommodation units
► Odisha is weakly represented in experiential tour packages of popular web feeds in comparison with
regions offering similar landscapes and offerings

Roadmap for Development of Ecotourism Sector in Odisha Page 30

 5

►
►
►

5.2
5.1

in various batches.

Destination Analysis
Rationale for site selection
Ecotourism Destinations

of these destinations were primarily based on:

Spatial equity of the sites to avoid any geographical concentration

Popularity of these destinations in terms of visitation and branding

The destinations were classified under five clusters, as illustrated below.

Roadmap for Development of Ecotourism Sector in Odisha

picture of remaining ecotourism destinations as part of the ecotourism roadmap.

Ease of accessibility by various modes primarily to cover them within the stipulated period

Page 32
consultant team. The team visited about 50% of the total nature camps which is spread across nine districts
Sites were identified in consultation with the Dept. of Forest & Environment and Dept. of Tourism for detailed
analysis with the help of field assessment and local stakeholder consultations. The criteria for the selection
During the engagement, certain destinations were selected for detailed analysis and to present an illustrative

For the purpose of site reconnaissance and field assessment, twelve major destinations were visited by the

The destination clusters have been formulated based on its tourism-built infrastructure and service capabilities which takes into account the existing ecotour property,
number of private accommodation present and ancillary infrastructure.
Primarily, tourists visiting these destinations have been classified in three segments namely:
1) Segment A: Niche tourists such as serious wild lifers and nature lovers who visit the destinations for the sake of the natural splendour.
2) Segment B: Tourists who are high-end, having high paying capacity interested in leisure, nature-based activities and varied experiences.
3) Segment C: Tourists are who visit the destination as part of an overall package or daily visitors

Scores as detailed in Destination analysis methodology Targeted Tourist segments

USP Access Visibility Tour. Infra Exp Qual.
Corbett/ Sanjay Kanha/
Clusters Destinations Satpura Gandhi Ranthambore Tadoba Ulley Priority Seg. A Seg. B Seg . C
Mangalajodi 6 5 4 1 5 Phase 1 30% 40% 30%
Cluster 1 Satpada 4 4 3 2 2 Phase 2 20% 50% 30%
Nuanai 2 5 1 1 1 Phase 1 0% 10% 90%
Chandaka 4 7 2 5 4 Phase 1 25% 40% 35%
Cluster 2
Satkosia 5 3 4 3 2 Phase 1 30% 30% 40%
Similipal 4 3 4 3 2 Phase 2 30% 30% 40%
Cluster3
Bhitarkanika 4 3 4 2 2 Phase 2 30% 30% 40%
Debrigarh 5 6 2 3 5 Phase 1 30% 40% 30%
Cluster 4
Sarafgarh 3 4 3 1 2 Phase 1 0% 10% 90%
Daringbadi 3 3 3 2 1 Phase 2 30% 20% 50%
Cluster 5 Mandasaru 3 2 2 3 2 Phase 2 30% 40% 30%
Koraput 6 3 1 1 1 Phase 2 20% 30% 50%

Roadmap for Development of Ecotourism Sector in Odisha Page 33

Apart evaluating the destinations on the five parameters listed in the table above, the carrying capacity 5.3 Priority Destinations
utilization of each destination were studied by plotting them against the overall tourism score of the place as
shown in graph below. The size of each destination symbolises their estimated carrying capacity with ones While the details of the interventions against the identified challenges have been detailed in the Annexure
in green to be taken up for intervention in the first phase. E, this section would summarise the proposed areas of intervention for each destination.

5.3.1 Mangalajodi
100%
► Requires concerted efforts to promote as one of the top ecotourism destinations to Segment A
Satpada
90%
and Segment B tourists
Threat of Over- ► Requires significant hardware improvements at the enterprise level
tourism ► Requires different investment formats to cater to almost equal mix of all three segments: with a
80%
bias towards community ownership
Sarafgarh Mangalajodi ► Requires significant service improvements at enterprise level at the Eco-tour property
Carrying Capacity Utilization

70% ► Requires credible private players for good quality operators for good destination image
► Build on existing destination capability to create differentiated offerings
60% Daringbadi Bhitarkanika
5.3.2 Nuanai
50% Satkosia-Angul ► Requires emphasis on private investment and private sector engagement
Satkosia-Nayagarh ► Needs to sharpen the USP with respect to dominant Segment
Debrigarh ► Explore creative ways of improving service levels to drive destination image
40%
► Incentivise relatively higher service levels of Ecotour properties
Similipal ► Work on visibility to harness the destination
30% Nuanai Chandaka

Mandasaru 5.3.3 Chandaka

20%
Koraput Under-developed ► Requires activities beyond jeep-safaris and extended times for jeep safaris with different entry and
destinations exit routes
10%
► Requires different investment formats to cater to high-end tourist segment
► Requires credible private players for good quality operators for good destination image
0% ► Build on existing destination capability to create differentiated offerings
0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Overall Tourism Experience Score 5.3.4 Satkosia

Figure 5-1: Graph evaluating destination's carrying capacity ► Requires segregation of visitors to be able to cater to all tourist segments, especially high-end
tourists and serious wild lifers
Satpada, Daringbadi and Sarafgarh depict high carrying capacity utilization with a low tourism experience. ► Requires activities fitting to tourist segments
These destinations have the threat of ‘Over-Tourism’ and require an immediate plan of action to mitigate the ► Requires extensive community participation and capacity building of life-skills and employability
potential threat by also exploring options to keep the destination offerings catering all tourist segments. One skills for the standard service delivery
of the possible ways of managing the ‘Over-Tourism’ is to develop an area outside these destinations for Seg.
C. Among these, Sarafgarh can be prioritized to mitigate the implications of ‘Over-Tourism’. 5.3.5 Debrigarh
► Requires significant level of service improvement to cater to serious wild lifers
On the other hand, destinations such as Koraput, Mandasaru & Chandaka are underutilised in potentials.
► Introduction of more activities for tourist segments
Especially, Chandaka has significant potential to be developed as a destination attracting serious wild lifers
► Requires significant service improvement at community enterprise level
and weekend backpackers considering its vicinity to Bhubaneswar. Mandasaru because of its natural ► Requires enhanced engagement with the local communities
splendour can be catered to Seg A & B tourists. Whereas Nuanai, can be targeted on Seg B tourist by ► Build on existing destination capability to create differentiated offerings
involving private sector.
5.3.6 Sarafgarh
Debrigarh, Mangalajodi, Satkosia, Similipal, and Bhitarkanika have got potential to spearhead Odisha as one
of the top ecotourism destinations in the country. Out of these, Satkosia (both Angul and Nayagarh side), ► Creative ways of improving service levels to drive destination image.
Mangalajodi and Debrigarh can be prioritised for focussed intervention to catapult Seg A & B tourists. Priority ► Incentivize relatively higher service levels of Eco-tour properties
destinations were derived from the above analysis ecotourism where development can be initiated in phase ► Work on visibility to harness the destination
► More emphasis on private investment
1.

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5.4 Stakeholder Feedbacks

This section would summarise the salient suggestions/ apprehension mooted by various stakeholders during
the consultations on the proposed Roadmap.

5.4.1 Hotel and Hospitality Chain

► Expressed concerns on the government’s approach to neglect private sector in ecotourism
planning and development process.

5.4.2 Tour Aggregator

► Need enabling policies that lays out incentives and benefits
► Need involvement of private sector in ensuring ecotourism service delivery
► The Odisha Ecotourism Policy need to lay emphasis on ‘Homestays & Community-based
Ecotourism’.
► Need involvement of third party to operate ‘Ecotour’ facilities
Figure 5-2: Interactions with SHG in Satkosia
5.4.3 Tour Operator
► Need involvement of hospitality sector in managing and operating destination 5.4.6 Government Officials
► Need augmentation of physical infrastructure such as toilets, cafes, ATMs, petrol pumps etc. ► Need to open 20% of the core areas (in PAs) for ecotourism
► Create a benefit sharing mechanism benefitting local communities ► Need for convergence of the different state governmental policies
► Need for an appealing incentive/commission structure to promote these destinations ► Need to engage with voluntary organisation in awareness generation and providing skill-
development programmes.
5.4.4 Industry ► Ecotourism destinations need theme-based sign boards
► Require replication of successful community development and business model from grassroots ► Need to sensitize officials from all the government departments
through apex level ► Need for upscaling ODF ecotourism destinations.
► Need to lay emphasis on community engagement and community development. ► Need to lay emphasis on utilisation of locally sourced materials/produces
► Need for procuring/sourcing locally produced goods and services.
► Need to look ‘community’ as partners than key stakeholders in ecotourism planning, development
and service delivery.

5.4.5 NGOs/Non-Profit
► Require strategies for positioning and packaging of the destinations
► Carrying capacity assessment should be done for all the ecotourism destinations.
► Lacks involvement and ownership of local communities in the planning, developing and
management of ecotourism destination.
► Local community should be seen as partner and first stakeholder for effective on-ground
collaboration
► The government should act as facilitators/enablers for successful and replicable ecotourism
destinations. Figure 5-3: Interaction with Govt official, Dumduma (left) & Private Entrepreneur, Koraput (right)
► Approach involving community-based enterprise and a private player can be envisaged as PPP
model for ecotourism destination.
► Need to develop fringe areas for popular tourists for year-round tourism in areas outside the PAs.
► Facilitate skill development and capacity building for semi-skilled or yet-to-be skilled individuals
from the local communities in core and alternative livelihoods.
► Need for synergistic convergence of the state’s Industrial, Conservation and Ecotourism policies.
► Need for regulating tourist footfalls in the ‘demand season’.
► Forest department should continue acting as ‘conservators’ of the forest and the PAs whereas
tourism department/private sector should focus on hospitality and service delivery.

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6 Roadmap for Ecotourism
This section lays out the vision, goals and strategies for upscaling ecotourism activities in Odisha. The
approach adopted in deriving strategies and action plan is as per the principles of sustainable and responsible
tourism. Subsequent sections would discuss the key Strategies instrumental for the development of the
ecotourism in the state which are the Institutional framework, Destination Management and Community
benefit sharing mechanisms. The Chapter concludes with a section on Action Plans which summarises the
workplan into short term and long term, which are to be carried out at the state and destination levels.

6.1 Vision

The vision of the Ecotourism Policy 2013 of Odisha quotes:

‘Ecotourism will promote responsible travel to natural areas and provide opportunities for visitors to
experience first-hand, understand and ‘quietly’ enjoy the state's natural and cultural heritage. This will lead to
conservation of nature, sustaining ecological processes, increased respect for local culture and traditions and
tangible improvement in the local economy’

6.1.1 Need for re-aligning Vision

Over the last few years there has been a considerable increase in visitations to natural areas in the state. At
a cursory level this seems to be in compliance with the Ecotourism Policy 2013. It seems the government has
paid attention in bolstering physical tourism infrastructures in the form of constructing ‘nature camps’ in the
Protected Areas as well as surrounding forested areas and those of socio-cultural importance. While this is
a praiseworthy step that abides the policy, it becomes equally important for the state to relook at its
achievements and stride ahead. Hence there is a need to refine the vision statement that clearly defines
further action plan.

6.1.2 Proposed Vision Statement

Re-defining tourism in Odisha’s natural landscapes by forging working coalitions and nurturing
change-agents for a sustainable development through positioning community as the key pillar of
strength

6.1.3 Rationale

The new vision talks of redefining tourism in Odisha’s natural landscapes. The suggestion here is to re-look
at Odisha’s natural offerings afresh and create a new set of ecotourism products based on the USPs of the
state and match it with the motivating factors of the new age ecotourist and accordingly curate and repackage
the new product offerings.

The next part of the vision refers to ‘forging working coalitions’. The business of tourism has multiple
stakeholders. All the stakeholders’ function in a combined manner to help in catering to different customer
segments through different services, leading to an enriching experience and a mature, successful ecotourism
destination, fulfilling its potential as well as generating income and livelihoods at all levels. These stakeholders
also share learnings, exchange best practices and business processes leading to an overall betterment of
the total activity. It is imperative that working coalitions are formed with all stakeholders including different
government departments, and the private sector to raise the product offering and to participate in ecotourism
for the above-mentioned purposes

Visiting places of natural beauty is not a new phenomenon. People have been visiting destinations like
Bhitarkanika and Similipal very frequently for their natural beauty and biodiversity. In spite of this, planned,
Roadmap for Development of Ecotourism Sector in Odisha Page 39
organised ecotourism began only after the Forest Department decided to venture into it, involving the local 6.2.1 Economic Targets
community. Hence in these initial days it is important to identify, nurture, handhold and support early adopters
and change agents, as they will be crucial in the bringing the transformation for successful ecotourism Footfall: As understood from section 4.1.3, 15% of tourists of Odisha had visited places known for natural
initiatives. landscapes. In order to brand Odisha a premier ecotourism destination the roadmap aims to scale up this
share by 25%.
With this vision, the section is further structured on the following approach as illustrated below:
Length of Stay: During the stakeholder consultations, it was informed that the average duration of stay at the
nature camps never exceeded 2 days. This roadmap strives to extend the stay of the tourists at these
destinations by a couple of more nights through deeper & meaningful engagements.

Spending: As derived from the OFDC annual report 2019, a visitor spends an average of Rs. 1500 per day
at the nature camps. The roadmap looks to further improve spending by Rs. 4000 per person per day by
improving service delivery and offering more tourism products.

6.2.2 Social Targets

Community Participation: As per the OFDC annual report 2019, about 40 ETGs are active. This roadmap
aims to widen the coverage of the nature camps and double the number of ETGs in due process.

Alternate Livelihood Options: It is believed that more than 500 community members have got an opportunity
to explore an alternate source of livelihood through ecotourism in Odisha from 2016-2020. The roadmap
wishes to diversify ecotourism to more areas and hence create similar opportunity to ten thousand of such
communities.

Skilling and Training: For the success of ecotourism, imparting sufficient soft and hard skills of hospitality
among these communities are imperative. Henceforth, the roadmap emphasizes on training at least 5000
such potential torch bearers of ecotourism in Odisha.

6.2.3 Environmental Target

6.2 Goals and Targets Solid waste management: From the current situation of callous management of solid wastes including
plastics, this roadmap envisages net zero waste ecotourism destinations.
Ecotourism as mentioned in section 2.1.2 is a subset of sustainable tourism. Since the sustainability is pillared
around economic, socio-cultural, and environmental parameters, corresponding targets set for the ecotourism Model Ecotourism Destinations: The roadmap underlines the need for an effective destination-based master
roadmap (10 years) are as illustrated below: plan inculcating carrying capacity and zoning. At least 10 model destinations could be targeted with a well-
planned ecotourism master plan.
Economic Tourist footfall Length of Stay Spend patterns
Tourism Infrastructure: The roadmap plans for augmenting the present rooms capacity at ecotour nature
Ecotourism Visitation: 15% 1-2 nights Rs. 1,500 per capita/day camps by about 2000 along with ancillary less intrusive infrastructure development by eco-friendly
As-Is- (2020)
of Total
construction techniques.
Ecotourism Visitation: 25% of
Roadmap (2030) Total 3-4 nights Rs. 4,000 per capita/day

Social Community Participation Alternate Livelihood Options Skilling & Training

As-Is- (2020) 40+ ETGs 500+ members employed 600+ members trained How to achieve the Goals?
Strategies are laid against each of the sustainability pillars in order to achieve the goals discussed
Roadmap (2030) 80+ ETGs, 10-15 Apex Feds 10,000+ members linked 5,000+ members trained in this section. The strategies are meant for overall ecotourism development of the state and the
proposed action plan is phased into 3 stages (years): Short (0-2), Medium (2-5) & Long (5+)
Environmental Solid Waste Management Ecotourism Dest. Master Plan Min. intrusive Tourism infra

As-Is- (2020) No effective mechanism NA 650 + rooms operational

2,000+ rooms (through PPP /

Roadmap (2030) Zero Waste destinations 10 Iconic Plans implemented PPC)

Roadmap for Development of Ecotourism Sector in Odisha Page 40 Roadmap for Development of Ecotourism Sector in Odisha Page 41
6.3 Strategic Areas

6.3.1 Economic Strategies

Action Points
S. No Key Areas Short Term (0-2 Yr.) Mid Term (2-5 Yr.) Long Term (5+Yr.)

Identify and prioritize ‘USP’ of Priority Sites &

Long Gestation Sites (refer section 5.2) Create partnerships for widespread
Apply indicators such as recognition USP appealing to customer’s
Wildlife Distribution Index (WDI), Ecological (WWF India, World Economic Forum emotion
Determination of UNESCO, World Tourism Highlight USPs in all branding and
Value Index (EVI), Ecotourism Attractivity Index (WEF),
USP & Selection
1. (EAI), Environmental Resiliency Index (ERI), Organisation (UNWTO), etc.) promotional collaterals.
of appropriate
Ecotourism Diversity Index (EDI) etc. Regular benchmarking with best state Implementation of Destination
tourist segment.
Define target market/segment: government initiatives/countries. Service Standards.
A. High Nature Sensitive Creation of ‘Destination Service Monitoring, Evaluation & Reporting
B. High Comfort Sensitive Standards’.
C. High Price Sensitive

Define site specific products / experiences as per

USP and target customer segment, Tourism
Implementation of action plans for long
2. Productization management Plans/Zones & action plans for all Monitoring & Evaluation of all sites
gestation sites
sites
Implementation of action plans for priority sites

Tourist Community building through dedicated community platform for future

Creation of strong, distinct and unique travellers, current travellers, and former travellers
‘ecotourism’ brand
3. Marketing Create unique content strategy through e-books, articles, videos, brochures etc.
Aggressive promotion of the brand in all media
Aggressive promotion & showcasing of the brand in all media for priority sites,
viz. print, electronic and digital for priority sites
soft promotion for long-gestation sites

Roadmap for Development of Ecotourism Sector in Odisha Page 42

Action Points
S. No Key Areas Short Term (0-2 Yr.) Mid Term (2-5 Yr.) Long Term (5+Yr.)

Improving connectivity in form of broad, pucca,

all-weather roads for all destinations All-weather pucca roads within nature-
Enhancing Improving frequency of rail and air connectivity camps for all ecotourism destinations
4.
Investments for all destinations Upgrading Jeypore and Jharsuguda
Identification of land-parcels for new airport Airports
development projects under UDAN scheme.

Invite competitive bid for private sector

investment in hospitality training and
services. Achieve PPP investment worth Rs.
Enhancing PPP Identification of land-parcels through private
5. Outsource O&M to private sector for in 100 Cr in 5 prime ecotourism
Investments sector investment for new properties;
selected ecotour properties (may be destinations
Nuanai/ Satpada) involving stringent
community participation obligations

5-year Tax holiday (State GST) for start-ups/incubation units focussing

promotion of guided tours & activities
Supporting Tax Incentive: 2-year Tax holiday (State GST) for
6. Simplifying the processes to access financing through credit lines, grant funds,
Enterprises Hotels & Resorts in ecotourism location
subsidised interest rates; and developing products and market them, especially
through digital platforms and more efficient sales channels

Roadmap for Development of Ecotourism Sector in Odisha Page 43

6.3.2 Social Strategies
Action Points
S. No Key Areas Short Term (0-2 Yr.) Mid Term (2-5 Yr.) Long Term (5+Yr.)

Capacity building of the government officials

for ecotourism (RTL Workshop, Virtual and
Hands-on Workshops)
Regular trainings through industry exchange
programmes
Capacity Imparting hospitality, storytelling, language, Further Capacity building of local Enabling Service standards as per criteria
1.
Building interpretation, guiding, tourism service & communities mentioned in STCI service standards
entrepreneurship skills to the local
community
Training of trainers
Recruitment of Tourism & Hospitality
professionals

Formation of Institutional framework for

Ecotourism Empowered DMU to take independent
Institutional Involvement & decision-making tourism decisions
2. Institution to be formed under the aegis of the
Development independence of DMU
Department of Environment & Forest Functional EDC & SPVs
EDCs / SPV & Destination MU at grassroots

Participate in tourism management plan for

Community group for procurement of
development of ecotourist destination
local goods
Community Participate in providing tourism services as Promote Rural Tourism and Homestays
3. Service provider community groups
Involvement an independent entrepreneur Evaluation of planning & implementation
Linkages between tourism and ancillary
Create ancillary eco-entrepreneurs involving
eco-enterprises
traditional skill sets

Roadmap for Development of Ecotourism Sector in Odisha Page 44

Action Points
S. No Key Areas Short Term (0-2 Yr.) Mid Term (2-5 Yr.) Long Term (5+Yr.)

Distribution of direct benefits in the Development and implementation of

Direct revenue sharing (for commercially capture stage (including employment, specific community investment programs
Benefit Sharing
4. driven projects) procurement of local goods and services,
Mechanism
Tabulation of indirect benefits and infrastructure construction) across
the tourism value chain

6.3.3 Environmental Strategies

Action Points
S. No Key Areas Short Term (0-2 Yr.) Mid Term (2-5 Yr.) Long Term (5+Yr.)

Identification of newer/ancillary
Explore newer CC study and zonation for ecotourism Research potential impact on ecotourism
1. destinations and potential to develop into
locations activities on wildlife and forest communities.
suitable ecotourism zones

Delineation of Ecotourism zone and

Tourism preparation of tourism management Implementation of the Zonal plans to Community to implement tourism
2. management masterplan for the forest areas and PAs priority areas / PA management plan & destination service
Plan already engaged in ecotourism Extension of CCs to other areas standards.
Commissioning of CC/LAC studies

Segregation of tourists wherever

possible.
Infrastructural Research and industry knowledge
Increase new target market segments
3. Requirements for Ongoing capacity building and business informing customer-focused experiences
based on identified growth opportunities
servicing tourists partnerships and communications
Smart communication to meet the range
of customer/visitor’s needs.

Roadmap for Development of Ecotourism Sector in Odisha Page 45

 Implementation of planned measures & impact

Page 46
The major strategies of the Roadmap for the Govt of Odisha have primarily focus on areas like Institutional
Mechanism, Destination Management and Community Benefit as illustrated below:

assessment of ecotourism activities

Long Term (5+Yr.)

Commission private sector in providing

environment friendly tourism infrastructure
Monitoring and evaluation of service standards
Implementation of SOPs at all destinations

Roadmap for Development of Ecotourism Sector in Odisha

6.4 Institutional Mechanism
Mid Term (2-5 Yr.)

6.4.1 Existing Institutional Framework

The Forest and Environment Department, Government of Odisha is the Nodal Department to promote
ecotourism in the state. The Odisha Ecotourism Development Board was formulated in view of the Odisha
Ecotourism Policy 2013. The board was entrusted in anchoring the ecotourism activities in the state.
Subsequently in March 2022, the State approved the Memorandum of Association and By-Laws of "Odisha
creation

Ecotourism Society" for management of Ecotourism in the State. The Chief Secretary is Chairman of its
SOPs for solid-waste management, water-
Ban use of single-use plastics, SOPs for

Ascertain appropriate environment tourist

food-waste management & recycling
Developing SOPs for the use of clean

infrastructure for all destinations as per

energy, wind energy, Increased energy

General Body with the Secretaries of other line Departments, PCCF (WL) & CWLW/ PCCF & HOFF, Odisha/
MD, OFDC. Ltd. besides Experts as Members. Further, there is also one Executive Body as well for the
purpose under the chairmanship of the PCCF (WL) & CWLW.

6.4.2 Project Management Unit operating as Joint Working Team for Ecotourism
tourism management plan
harvesting programme.

The Roadmap also proposes creation of a Project Management Unit (PMU) for Ecotourism under the ageis
Short Term (0-2 Yr.)

of Department of Forest & Environment. Firms/ Entities having experience in ecotourism or niche tourism
domains could be invited through compettitive bidding. The functions and performance of the PMU could be
Action Points

reviewed on an annual basis by a sub committee in OES which is Chaired by the Chief Secretary of the State
programmes,

and jointly represented by the Secretaries of department of Forest & Environment and department of Tourism.
efficiency,

The preliminary sope and key tasks of the proposed PMU would be:

• To assist in planning, design, promotion, development and implementation of ecotourism inititatives

• To assist in review of the policies, laws, rules, gudielines and research documents on ecotourism
infrastructural

• To assist in laying out annual and quatery target plan for ecotorism initiatives of OES
Environment-

development
Operational
Key Areas

• To assist in branding, promotion and destination marketing of ecotourism destinations

guidelines

sensitive

• To assist in preparation of Standard Operating Procedures for the conduct of ecotourism in Protected
and Non Protected Areas
• To assist in conducting stakeholder consultations and review meetings with various Departments,
Forest Divisions, District Tourism Offices, Destinaiton Management Bodies, others etc
• To assist in facilitating workshops, trainings and skill imparting programmes
4.

5.
S. No

Roadmap for Development of Ecotourism Sector in Odisha Page 47

6.5 Destination Management
Q1: What kind of customer should get attracted and why?
Tourism has an impact on the environment. Managing Tourism destinations is an important part of controlling
and minimizing tourism’s environmental impact. ‘Destination’ refers to an area with its own attraction that
inspires visitors to visit and spend time. 1. Identifying the USPs of the destination and its lure to various customer segments
2. Assessing the Accessibility of the destination and its impact on various customer segments
Destination management is a complex activity due to many stakeholders being a part of a single destination, 3. Assessing Carrying capacity analysis / Limits of Acceptable Change from ecological and community
often holding contradictory perspectives. These include the local government authorities, local NGOs, perspective
community and indigenous community representatives, academia, and local chambers of commerce, all of 4. Study the above 3 together to arrive at a target mix of various customer segments.
them make up what are known as "Destination Management Organizations” (DMOs). As explained in the
previous section, the roadmap proposes ‘Destination Management Unit (DMU)’ on the lines of DMOs.
Q2: What kind of experience would be provided at what price-point?
Often DMOs take the form of local tourism boards, councils, or development organizations. The local tourism
businesses such as hotels, tour operators, transportation services, guides, restaurants, etc. are also a
significant part of a destination. Destination Management Approach is the process of taking a wide-angle 1. Formulating Destination Service Standards for segregated customer segments
view of the overall destination in which a balanced vision is developed to ensure promotion of Sustainable 2. Assessing current status against the service standards
3. Undertaking Zoning as a tool
tourism along with local stewardship of the environment
4. Instituting continuous monitoring and alert systems for crucial parameters
We believe that the Forest and Environment Dept of Odisha should take a Destination management approach
to manage ecotourism and its sustainability. This shall lead to development of a conducive and supporting Q3: What kind of developmental work would be required to achieve the Destination service
ecosystem for tourism with the Department managing the whole destination to its full potential. The main standards?
benefits of this approach are:
a. Opportunity to identify and develop a strong USP of the Destination, thereby also being able to create a
1. Inculcating Tourism mind-set in all stakeholders at the destination
strong and unique brand, that is known for sustainable and responsible practices
2. Assessing, planning & creating infrastructural requirements (such as roads, gates, jetties, parking
b. A chance to plan the destination and the tourist activity in such a manner that it minimizes the total tourism
etc) in the destination
impact on the eco-sensitive destination, simultaneously avoiding over-tourism
3. Assessing, planning & creating hospitality infrastructure (hotels, resorts, homestays, community run
c. Identify Phase-1 destinations, further earmarked as priority and long gestation destinations; and for each
accommodation etc)
of them Supervise the following created by expert group:
4. Assessing, planning & creating tourism service infrastructure (interpretation centres, safari vehicles,
• Baseline destination assessment
boats, machans, hides, picnic spots, etc)
• Undertaking Carrying capacity studies / limits of acceptable change study 5. Setting the stage for involving the Private sector as well as communities in creating accommodation,
• Fixing of target destination standards tourism service infrastructure, tourism services, training and capacity building
• Creation of tourism development plan for each site (target customer segment mix, zoning,
developmental work for access infrastructure, hospitality infrastructure and experience infrastructure,
and sustainability goals)
d. For each such destination, review Destination action plan created by DMUs Q4: What kind of training and capacity building would be required?
• Community structure
• Business plan for PPP and PPC framework for infrastructure development
• Action plan for meeting sustainability matrix targets 1. Robust long-term framework for community engagement, training, and empowerment
• Eco-system development 2. Sensitization and capacity building of all the other stakeholders
• Benchmarking process 3. Achieving the targets of the Destination Sustainability matrices including but not limited to solid waste
e. For each destination, create an auditing process for- management, water harvesting, cleanliness, Plastic sensitivity and handling etc.
• Destination service standards 4. A cohesive communication strategy adopted by all stakeholders including public, private and
• Continuous monitoring mechanisms driven by local ecosystem player community players for maximum output that builds on each other’s efforts
• Sustainability standards and certifications
f. For each destination, provide expertise for capacity building through its centre of excellence In nutshell, as a Destination manager & the Forest Dept shall need to consider the overall area and its socio-
cultural and economic wellbeing through all the stakeholders.
Destination management approach will lead to decisions on aspects concerning to the formulation of
Destination Tourism Management Strategy that is conservation, livelihood and tourism centric; to arrive at
Attributes of Destination Development Framework
the same, the following questions need to be answered:
A tourism destination development framework obviously needs to focus on facilities and services designed
to meet the needs of the tourists. In case of an ecologically sensitive destination, the products and services
should showcase its unique attractions while curating experiences with minimal footprint. A sustainable
destination is however one that prioritizes Planet, People and Profit in the correct order and optimizes all
three.

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To reach this balance, destination’s different attributes need to be assessed while creating a development Priority Destinations: As mentioned above, these are sites where the total of the three factors create an
plan. These attributes are summed up in the acronym: “ASA VIE”. above-median positioning. Such destinations can start focusing on the remaining three factors of visibility,
infrastructure and experience while continuing to gently push the first three factors upward.
• Attractions: USP or the desirable features that attract the tourists to the specific destination.
• Sustainability: Limits of acceptable change for ecology as well as communities Long-gestation Sites: If the combined scores on the first three parameters of USP, Sustainability or
• Accessibility: Ease of travelling to the destination accessibility fall below the 50% mark, then it indicates presence of issue/(s) because of which the destination
• Visibility: Degree to which a destination is visible to its potential visitors presently is not a coveted one. Sometimes, if some parameters are less than 30% mark, then it also indicates
• Infrastructure for tourism: Accommodation and various other general facilities/ amenities that are the remediation would probably be tricky and if not addressed soon enough, would pull the destination down
expected in a tourism destination including the ones for health and safety further. Solving such issues is often not easy and requires considerable time; and therefore, a thought-out,
• Experience: Recreational and Experiential activities available. multi-pronged, patient approach for rectification of underlying cause needs to be launched immediately. All
the other elements of tourism plan then should ideally weave this rectification process within itself; so that the
process of rectification itself is rewarded.

6.5.1 Attractions / USP:

USP or the Unique features that attract potential tourists to the destination and their expectation from the
visit. Each place has some specialty, and most often the best way to find the USP is to work with the local
community, ambassadors, and businesses to build it from the bottoms up. Though the USP is often present
in the DNA of the destination itself, it usually requires a focused effort to match it according to the tourist’s
expectations. There are multiple attractions that attract different tourist segments.

Odisha is home to 2 national parks (Bhitarkanika National Park and Simlipal National Park) and 19 wildlife
sanctuaries (Badrama WLS, Baisipalli WLS, Balukhand Konark WLS, Bhitarkanika WLS, Chandaka Dampara
WLS, Chilika (Nalaban) WLS, Debrigarh WLS, Gahirmatha (Marine) WLS, Hadgarh WLS, Kapilash WLS,
Karlapat WLS, Khalasuni WLS, Kotagarh WLS, Kuldiha WLS, Lakhari Valley WLS, Nandankanan WLS,
Satkosia Gorge WLS, Simlipal WLS, Sunabeda WLS).

The current eco-tourism policy visualizes a participatory consensus-building process for identifying Unique
Selling Points for the state. While the process is important, it needs to be remembered that tourism
destinations are chosen by the customer while comparing them in relation to other tourism options available
to them. It is therefore important that the USP take full cognizance of this competitive reality. It also needs to
be remembered that the USPs need to be experienced by the traveller in form of an experience. Presence of
USPs is essential but not sufficient condition for the traveller; as the wildlife experiences need to be tailored
to create the experience.

With this context, it needs to be said that while the state is home to large, iconic mammal species such as
the Asiatic elephant, tiger, leopard, blackbuck, gaur, golden jackal, chital, sambar and more; these are not
unique to the state and can be found in other states with far greater probability of finding them. Tigers are
better spotted in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Uttarakhand, and Karnataka (in no particular
order). Leopards can more easily be found in Karnataka, Rajasthan and even in Madhya Pradesh. Even with
elephants, where 60% of the population of Central and East India calls Odisha home, they are not easily seen
in the PAs as they are found in the human-animal conflict areas. They on the other hand can be seen easily
in Uttarakhand, Karnataka, Assam, and Uttar Pradesh in their natural environments.

In order for Odisha to create a unique place in the minds of the customers, it can choose to focus on their
The first three parameters of this framework, viz. Attraction, Sustainability and Accessibility are attributes that
unique species:
take a long time to influence and therefore come across as intrinsic qualities of the destination. The last three
however: Visibility, Infrastructure and Experience are tourism layers added onto the destination; they can be • Fishing Cats – in Bhitarkanika
changed in a shorter period of time and thus are the focus of many tourism plans. The latter three feed-back • Olive Ridley Turtles – largest nesting site in the world
into the first three and a neglect of this relationship often leads to over-tourism and demise of a destination. • Irrawaddy Dolphin – highest number with best viewing opportunity
• Saltwater Crocodile – only state to have all three species found in India - Bhitarkanika
While creating a tourism master plan, the interaction of the first three elements: USP, Sustainability and
• Rare Birds – like Indian Skimmers at Chandaka, black bellied tern in Satkosia
Accessibility help us in identifying the low-hanging fruit. If all of these factors were to be given a rating out of
• Rich birdlife – approx.11.4 Lakh birds visit Chilika in a year
10; where 10 signifies the best in the country, then a combined score of 15 or above in the first three
parameters points to a destination that has adequate pull of its own. Such destinations can be labelled as • Unique flora of the region – for example- exotic orchids in Simlipal.
priority destinations. Detailed in section 5.2 • Unique landscapes of the region – like landscape scenery of Sunabada WLS
• Unique conservation initiatives – Bhetnoi community conservancy for blackbucks

Roadmap for Development of Ecotourism Sector in Odisha Page 50 Roadmap for Development of Ecotourism Sector in Odisha Page 51
However, there are a few parks where work needs to be done in terms of research to put together a strong • Hide photography around salt licks might work well for photographers and photography groups.
experience to showcase in order to attract travellers. These parks are: • Create specialty areas such as a region for finding, photographing, or observing species such as
fishing cat / Olive Ridley turtles / Irrawaddy dolphin to name a few.
1. Simlipal National Park – Simlipal Tiger Reserve is a National Park and a Wildlife Sanctuary along with • Convert more and more travellers into conservation ambassadors. Partner with organization such as
being a Biosphere reserve. It is the abode of more than 1352 species of plants, 21 species of amphibians, Turtle Survival Alliance India https://turtlesurvival.org/turtle-conservation/projects/tsaindia/ for
62 species of reptiles, 361 species of birds, 55 species of mammals and many species of flora and fauna. specialty programs and the identification species to promote ethically (especially true for Olive Ridley
Simlipal is also blessed with majestic waterfalls like Barehipani, Joranda etc, rocky cliffs and green Turtles).
valleys dotted in sylvan Sal forests. It bears 94 species of orchids, many of them are endemic and • In regions of high eco sensitivity run “programs that matter” - This can be like a give back to nature
program. People like to be associated to conservation and like to contribute
endangered and 72 are Himalayan species. There are many species of rare, endangered, threatened
and vulnerable plants and animals. Simlipal is famous for Tigers and Elephants. It is the only Tiger
6.5.2 Sustainability
Reserve in the country to boast of Melanistic Tigers. It alone is the home of 75% Tiger and 25%
Elephants of Odisha.
Tourism operations may direct pressure on fragile ecosystems causing degradation of the physical
environment and disruption to wildlife. It can also exert considerable pressure on host communities and lead
Yet, the most famous inhabitant of Simlipal is barely sighted. The negative perception arising out of this,
to dislocation of traditional societies and competition for the use of scarce resources, notably land and water.
and the fact that the best part of the reserve on the southern side is not open for tourism, creates a sub-
It can be a significant contributor to local and global pollution.
par tourism experience.
Sustainability in tourism refers to design and implementation of tourism plan such that the ecological and
Simlipal therefore needs to carefully open some of the best parts of the park for tourism to show-case its
cultural processes continue to operate at a regenerative pace without major disruption from tourism or tourism
strengths, it also needs to reposition itself as a destination that offers multiple experiences based on different related impacts.
& exclusive USPs such as:
1. Sustainable Destination Program and Sustainability Standards & Certifications
• Floral diversity- 90+variety of Orchids including 4 endemic varieties,
• Natural beauty including Barheipani waterfall- second highest waterfall in India, Sustainable destination program is designed to empower local communities to take ownership of
• India largest known congregations of sambar deer at Devasthali and Upper Barhakamuda meadows sustainability goals and build on local initiatives. It recognizes the benefits of a Destination working together
• Community connect, indigenous tribal community culture - khadia mankadia etc & to achieve sustainable outcomes and should be used to underpin a clear vision for a Destination, as well as
• Melanistic Tiger Tourism focusing on sound policy and action plans to help achieve the vision.

The program addresses key global concerns, including the SDGs, and deals with environmental regeneration
Satkosia WLS - Limiting tourist activity to the vicinity of the tar road connecting Pampasar and Tikarpada and environmental improvement as well as the conservation of existing natural heritage assets. The program
and the highly populated areas around it such as Chhotkei and Baghmunda villages has resulted in visitors includes two key steps:
getting a very poor view of the park. Near local extinction of the tiger has already created negative perception
about the reserve. • Benchmarking: Indicated quantitative evaluation of the destinations environmental and social
performance against sector and region baseline and best practice levels. Effective benchmarking
Satkosia therefore needs to open up areas that do justice to its rich biodiversity: mugger and gharial
crocodiles, high turtle diversity, high diversity of rare birds like black bellied tern and Indian skimmer, good
delivers clarity and injects confidence. It puts rigor and transparency into processes and strengthens
visibility of terrestrial wildlife including elephants; increasing populations of visible wildlife such as chital, reporting to government, visitors and residents.
sambar, barking deer, gaur etc. • Certification: Qualitative verification of the destinations environmental and social performance
against the Sustainable Destination Standard by an approved independent third-party auditor.
There is also a very good opportunity to create iconic leisure experiences and both sides of River Mahanadi
offer some exciting opportunities for the same. Some of these can be: The Ministry of Tourism has since launched the Sustainable Tourism Criteria for India (STCI) with an aim
to promote and ensure environmentally responsible and sustainable practices in the tourism industry.
• Boat ride on the Satkosia Gorge of River Mahanadi in between the forested mountains is an unearthly,
fascinating experience. Odisha state can become the first state to adopt the STCI not only for its Tourism industry but also for its
• Birding tours
Protected Area and nature destinations
• Star Gazing etc on the bank of River Mahanadi are other memorable experiences

It is thus clear that mere presence of USPs is not enough to create a wildlife experience; appropriate tourism 2. Carrying Capacity
experiences need to be created to enable the tourists to experience the USPs (this would be handled in
In tourism, the carrying capacity is described as majority of the tourists that are accepted at a place without
detail in Section 6.5.6). The following principles should guide the process of crafting nature tourism
harming the physical atmosphere. The main aim of tourism carrying capacity is to prevent the over-utilization
experiences of the destination by identifying the maximum number of people who can visit an area.

• Identify regions with higher biodiversity for tourism activities. Evaluating carrying capacity of a destination through DPSIR Model (Drivers, Pressures, State, Impacts, and
• Create trails and paths after having studied the movement patterns. Responses) highlights critical links and relationships between human activities, pressures on the
• Species such as fishing cats might need to be observed at night. Need to build an experience catering environment and impacts on ecosystems (European Environment Agency, 1999). Calculating, physical,
to just that in Mangala Jodi (Chilika) and Bhitarkanika. environmental, and social carrying capacity of a destination exposes the pressure and future scope of
• All experiences to be led by naturalists who are well versed with the biodiversity of the region. tourism development.

Roadmap for Development of Ecotourism Sector in Odisha Page 52 Roadmap for Development of Ecotourism Sector in Odisha Page 53
Factors affecting carrying capacity This, however, has not made most of the destination as accessible as they can be. Unlike other National
Parks and sanctuaries in other states, it is found that most of the National Parks and Sanctuaries have very
Carrying capacity has wide dimensions and various factors that affect the destination carrying few gates that makes them difficult to access from all sides, potentially reducing the number of visitors.
capacity ranging from the technological development to types of tourism in the region. The main factors that
affect the carrying capacity of a destination are the number of visitors and their behaviour. Another important aspect of such limited access is that the tourism benefits remain concentrated in handful
of villages abutting the entry gate, while the man-animal conflicts impact communities located all around the
Therefore, to minimize the negative impact, the number of visitors and behaviour needs to be controlled. periphery of the destination. For tourism to work as an important conservation tool, it is important that the
tourism benefits are diffused in sufficient measure to a larger proportion of the communities. Creating multiple
As a result of its negative impact, visitor management techniques have been widely used in famous tourism gates thus has the potential to not only benefit the tourists, but also benefit the community as well as the
places. conservation agenda of the park. Tadoba Andhari Tiger Reserve is a good case study for the same; the
reserve has 20 gates that are managed by the local community.
Types of Visitor Management Technique
For Odisha, the following are the examples of destinations that can improve their accessibility by various local
Hard Measures initiatives:

The aim of this method is to restrict the number of people and to regulate the usage of visitors. To achieves Simlipal National Park: It takes about 5 hrs to drive from Bhubaneswar to Baripada or Jashipur and a further
this measure, a technique such as opening time, charging high fees during peak hours, cautions signs such 2 - 3 hrs from there to sites within the reserve. A gate needs to be opened on the Udala side of the reserve–
as not to litter or feed the animals, etc. must be kept. –the side most affected by forest and wildlife crimes. This will bring access to South Similipal within 3 - 4 hrs
driving distance from the state capital, Bhubaneswar. It will also help bring down forest and wildlife crimes
Soft Measures drastically by employment of local people in tourism.

This method is achieved by influencing the behaviour and attitude of the visitor. However, to influence the Satkosia National Park: Main entrance is about 4hrs from Bhubaneswar via Angul. Despite the existence a
visitors, codes of conduct are displayed, and by educating the measures to be taken on how to prevent the gate at Jilinda, 140kms from Bhubaneswar, tourist access is via Angul, unnecessarily adding significant
fragile flora and fauna. distance (> 50 km) and driving time. The absence of game drives makes the best parts of the reserve
inaccessible to visitors. Having a single tourist gate favours only a small set of communities with benefits of
3. Limits of acceptable change tourism at the cost of depriving the vast majority living around the fringes.

If Jilinda gate is made the main point of entry for game drives, it will not only provide the quickest access to
Limits of acceptable change are defined as the variation that is considered acceptable in a particular
the park core area from Bhubaneswar; it will also be near the downstream end of the gorge, making it also a
component or process of the ecological character of the destination/protected area, without indicating change point for entry for boat safaris. It may be noted that this side of the reserve is most prone to wildlife poaching
in ecological character that may lead to a reduction or loss of the criteria for which the site is visited. and illicit timber felling by mafias based in Badamba and Narsinghpur and that employing local youth
meaningfully through wildlife tourism can play a significant role in protection of the reserve. Similar gates can
Setting limits of acceptable change be considered on the Athmalik and Nayagarh sides, besides the existing Pampasar gate.

In most cases, limits of acceptable change are based on conditions at the time of listing. Limits of acceptable Debrigarh Wildlife sanctuary - Only 60kms from Veer Surendra Sai Airport, Jharsuguda; approach roads are
change can be established for those components and/or processes and/or benefits/services: of excellent quality. However, having a single entrance to the sanctuary at Zero Point concentrates tourism
benefits to one side of the sanctuary. The Lakhanpur side is prone to wildlife and forest crimes and has
villages on the fringes of the sanctuary.
• for which there is adequate information to form a baseline against which change can be measured;
• for which there is sufficient information to characterise variability around the time of listing; Opening a second gate on the Lakhanpur side will help nurture positive attitudes among local people and
• that are critical in determining the ecological character; and, involve them positively with the sanctuary and its goals through tourism engagement.
• that can be monitored.
1. Impact of Destination attributes on target customer segment
The Limits of Acceptable Change (LAC) includes all the stakeholders of tourism actively participating in the
decision-making process. The Limits of Acceptable Change (LAC) process the plans and select the indicators
Destination attributes leading to identification of Priority and Long-gestation Destinations in Odisha
to minimize the negative impacts. The LAC team constantly monitors and reviews the indicators.
As tourism typically runs in itineraries and include 2-3 adjacent destinations in one tour, the 12 destinations
6.5.3 Accessibility
studied under this report, were clustered in 5 groups based on their locational proximity.
Odisha has only two airports which severely restricts its connectivity to the rest of the country and makes it
even harder for international tourists to reach it. That said, the state has reasonable train connectivity and • Cluster 1: Manglajodi – Nuanai - Satpada
some good roads. There are some parts of the state that are easily accessed from airports in the neighbouring • Cluster 2: Chandaka – Satkosia
states; Visakhapatnam, Kolkata, Jamshedpur and Raipur airports can act has the tourist hubs for Odisha. • Cluster 3: Bhirakanika – Simlipal
• Cluster 4: Debrigarh – Safargarh
Once within the state, most of the destinations are easily and comfortably reached by road –by private means • Cluster 5: Daringbadi – Mandsaru – Koraput – Raygada
of transportation. Last mile connectivity is still a challenge at quite a few places. Though the state highways
are generally in good condition, about 50% of the roads inside the natural areas are not all-weather roads As already discussed above, destinations with decent scores in USP, Sustainability as well as Accessibility
and leave much to be desired.
point to a place that has sufficient tourism pull. The following destinations were found to be meeting the
criteria of a combined score around 50% or above: Manglajodi, Chandaka, Debrigarh and Satkosia.

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The combined scores of the following 3 clusters were higher than others and thus should be give first priority. segments are met with. It is to be remembered that each type of customer segment may have different needs
and appropriate emphasis needs to be given
• Cluster 1: Manglajodi – Nuanai - Satpada
• Cluster 2: Chandaka – Satkosia 2. Tourism Infrastructure
• Cluster 4: Debrigarh – Safargarh • Jetties, boats, safari vehicles, machans,
• Interpretation centres
Clusters with high accessibility of high USP typically tend to attract low-price tourists which may put pressure • Rest rooms inside the game drive
on the sustainability scores. • Refreshment centres
• Souvenir shops
Relationship between destination attributes and customer segments
3. Hospitality Infrastructure
A. High Nature/ Culture Sensitive: A segment that truly values the destination USP and is willing to
travel to relatively inaccessible destinations as well. This segment is sensitive to destination
Hospitality infrastructure needs to be tailored to the type of target customers. Often, this component is best
sustainability and is found at almost all price-points. Typically, it follows a bell-curve of having
handled by private sector as they are the domain experts for the same. However, sometimes, there are two
maximum demand at middle price point with lower volumes at low and high price points.
issues with such a model:

B. High Comfort Sensitive – These customers need to be won over by creating high-quality • Private sector may not be willing to invest in an unknown destination
experiences but at the same time are extremely sensitive to a destination’s amenities. Good quality
• High concentration of private ownership by outsiders creates disenchantment with local communities.
accessibility as well as higher standards of cleanliness, and general amenities are essential for this
segment. Due to this, sometimes, governments may invest in hospitality infrastructure, but it should always be seen as
a stopgap measure till a balanced mix of ownership can be achieved in a destination (Various models of
C. High Price Sensitive – These customers are more sensitive to price and are willing to live in ownership have been detailed in the next chapter). Ecotour Nature Camps of Odisha are government owned
destinations with low sustainability scores. They prefer destinations that are easy to get to and are facilities; and it is not clear if they are being seen as a stop-gap solution due to many destinations not being
pocket friendly mature. The evaluation of these facilities is as follows:

6.5.4 Visibility Ecotour Nature camps offer accommodation facilities at 47 places in 18 districts of Odisha; most of the
facilities are at basic level.
Visibility of destinations is an extremely important factor in the tourist decision making. Media has an important
role in taking the Tourist Brand to the potential customer. Also, it is found that Tourists place higher importance A. Architecture: A basic principle of creating sustainable hospitality units is to show-case the vernacular
on destination image when the holiday is perceived as more socially visible. Different tourist segments have architectural heritage, using materials that are procured locally and employ local manpower. There are
varying buying behaviour and tourist activity preferences. This directly translates into the image of the many advantages of this approach; such buildings create a unique experience and instil a sense of pride
destination formed by the intermixing of factors such as the destination USP, the communication, the imagery in the host communities about their own heritage. They are also easier to maintain and are a source of
and the media channel used. Odisha needs to carefully work on the appropriate communication and livelihood not only during the construction phase but also during the maintenance. This creates financial
messaging mix to ensure visibility through the marketing campaigns adopted. linkages of the tourism business with the local economies.

6.5.5 Infrastructure With Ecotour camps, most of the camp architecture indicates that not much thought has gone into
planning the structure keeping local architecture and design principles in mind. Most of their structures
Infrastructure development for tourism often the most visible component of a tourism management plan; have contemporary buildings with the exception of showcasing a few indigenous ‘Santhali Cottages’ or
however, the same needs to be a part of the continuum; and should strictly follow the analysis mentioned ‘Machan’ within the camps.
above. Infrastructure for tourism can be bucketed in the following three groups:
The rest of the camps offer amalgamation of modern architecturally designed buildings with modern
tents, that stand out in an uninspiring manner. From a ‘unique experience’ perspective one may hardly
1. General Amenities find the architecture of these camps 'experiential or unique. Also, such an architectural design ignores
the opportunity of showcasing the rich indigenous heritage that is traditionally available in the community
This includes general infrastructure for the destination: but fast declining due to perceptions of the development. A reconnaissance visits to some of these
camps have helped us classify them into:
• Health and Rescue Infrastructure like first-aid spots, and search and rescue teams
• Telecommunication infrastructure – telecom, internet facilities Uninspired, somewhat inspired and highly inspired by vernacular architecture
• Transportation infrastructure – petrol pumps, parking, minor repairs, towing facilities
• Banking infrastructure – ATMs
• Sanitation facilities – public rest rooms, solid waste management systems etc

Even though other arms of the government are responsible for creating most of the above, the destination
management committee needs to take the lead in ensuring that the min. needs of the target customer

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a. Uninspired

Figure 6-4: Shaam-e-Sarhad Resort, Hodka, Gujarat

Figure 6-1: Ecotour Nature Camp at Barehipani (left) & FRH Puranakote, Satkosia (right)

b. Somewhat inspired

Figure 6-5: Lotus Resort, Konark

* No Ecotour property could be chosen; pictures of Desia, Koraput and Lotus Resort, Konark

Figure 6-2: Machan at Debrigarh (left) and Mandasaru (right)

B. Food & Beverage Offerings: Food and Beverage offerings are another component of hospitality that
c. Highly inspired can impact both customer satisfaction as well as sustainability. Adequate attention to the supply chain
linkages with local community can ensure fresh, sumptuous local food is served while creating
employment for the local communities.

Food offered by the ecotour camps seems to fit the bill on sustainability front. It is simple and from Odia
cuisine. It highlights the local availability of the fresh ingredients and is just right when it comes to variety
and amount. However, when it comes to customer delight; it was observed that most ecotour camps
more or less operate on a fixed menu basis and there is not a la carte option. A buffet or thali system is
followed depending on the number of rooms/ occupancy in the camp. Since the number of nights per
customer is between 1 or 2 nights, this arrangement seems to be working OK.

C. Amenities: Most of the camps offered minimal modern amenities such as Internet, Wi-Fi, and payment
by credit cards. Some had TV in their common areas but due to their remoteness internet was dependent
on the nearest tower. This is understandable and is mostly accepted as the norm by the visitors as well.
D. Operations Quality: Our reconnaissance visits to some of these camps revealed that presently camps
were either run by the forest department officials or by the community, under the forest department.
While some hospitality training has been provided, it can be scaled up for more nuanced visitors both
Figure 6-3: Desia Koraput
nationally and globally. Also, some of the properties already were requiring hardware maintenance (in
spite of not being very old), indicating lack of Operations & Maintenance deficit.

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 In the Forest, Tourist amenities like clean restrooms and refreshment points would be available within High Culture Sensitive customer:
45 min driving time from any tourism area in the park. Conservation, garbage management efforts from • Paddle boats in Manglajodi in less-crowded areas
the park should be visible and visitors should be briefed about the same
• Silent engine motor-boat cruises through reed jungles
E. Booking/Reservation: The booking process for ecotour properties in Odisha is fairly cumbersome. One • A day with a fisherman experience
has to go through 7-8 stages to get a single booking done. Currently, the process doesn’t highlight details • Village visit, Stargazing, Fish Farming, DIY souvenir activities & Explore Dhani forest
of the tour operator i.e. the portal doesn’t show that the booking has been done through a registered tour
agency with Ecotour Odisha. As of now, booking details don’t have facility for any such information. High Price Sensitive customer:
• Birds Interpretation Centre
• Proper queuing system
6.5.6 Experience • Measures to avoid over-crowding at one place
• Adequate convenience spots
The purpose of ecotourism is to engage tourists in low impact, non-consumptive and locally oriented activities
in order to maintain species and habitats. Activities that not only engage tourists gainfully but also increase B. Satpada
the knowledge aspect specially related to the socio-cultural environmental sensitivity of the region and leaving
zero footprint on these eco-sensitive zones. High Price Sensitive customer:
• Regulate Dolphin tourism at Satpada – Sea route
1. Ecotour Experiential activities: Though mentioned on the website, not many experiential activities • Incentivise silent outboard motorboat at Satpada
were being carried out at most destinations. Also, wherever activities like boating were happening, most
of the infrastructure was found to be owned by the forest department, making the local community mere C. Satkosia
employees or contact workers with minimal stake in improving their skill sets.
High Nature Sensitive customer:
• Opening up 20 per cent of the core area for tourism with limited numbers of game drives
2. Converting USPs into Experiences through interpretation: Interpretation is summarized as an • Sunrise to sunset game drives, offered as morning drives (~ 5 hrs), afternoon drives (~ 4 hrs)
activity that aims to communicate to tourists, in a recreational context, cultural, historical and and full day drives (~ 12 hrs)
natural/environmental messages, in order to assist them to develop empathy towards the environment • Boat safaris in low noise boats along the length of the gorge
as well as conservation values. Interpretation simplifies scientific and technical language for tourists and
• Zoning of tourism areas is necessary with 60-70km game drive routes in each zone
broadens their knowledge (cultural, historical and environmental), thereby enhancing their tourism
• Limited, small group walking safaris in buffer areas and along the Satkosia Gorge
experience
• Night drives/accompanied patrolling in buffer and fringe areas
It is extremely imperative that interpretation is engaging and informal, something that the guides at • Introduction of 1) Machan Sitting, 2) Nature-Trail, Bushwalking,
Mangalajodi have perfected. Dazzling identification of a variety of birds, interspersed with their personal
stories of having converted from being poachers to birders make such compelling narratives that the High Culture Sensitive customer:
total tourism experience outshines the lack of infrastructure of good boats, technical support and other • Village experience
supporting facilities. • All experience accompanied with the guides
Mangalajodi is also the poster child of how the local community gets invested in the ecotourism and • Stargazing etc.; Experiencing the forested area
conservation business when they have the ownership of infrastructure (boats)
High Price Sensitive customer:
The following principles need to be kept in mind while converting USPs into experiences • Multiple gates need to be opened for tourist entry from all four directions
• Jilinda gate must be made the main point of entry for game drives for easy and efficient access
3. Differentiated experiences for each customer segments from Bhuvaneshwar; it can be used as a point for entry for boat safaris
• Similar entry gates can be considered on the Athmalik and Nayagarh sides
A. Manglajodi • Private, government and community owned accommodations should be outside the reserve;
suitable sites be identified outside the Protected Area limits to allow such investments.
High Nature Sensitive customer: • Quality wildlife experiences and consistence in rules, regulations and permits will encourage
• Nalban Wildlife Sanctuary as a premium zone (limited no of boats) for watching flamingoes, private entrepreneurs and local community members to invest in safari lodges and homestays.
pelicans, etc • Other amenities such as clean and functioning toilets for men and women must be built at
• Night walks at Manglajodi along bunds for spotting fishing cats and other nocturnal species entrance gates. One anti - poaching camp per safari zone may be identified as a stop for toilet
and meal breaks.
• Cruises in the creeks and channels of Mangalajodi for spotting fishing cats and other nocturnal
species
D. Simlipal
• Collaborate with nature-based tour operators for attracting the customers with matching interests
• Well-trained guides with excellent communication skills High Nature Sensitive customer:
• Opening up 20 per cent of the southern core area for tourism

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 • Multiple gates need to be opened into the reserve from all directions As discussed above, every destination can choose to focus on one or more of the following customer
• South Similipal may be turned into a ‘premium zone’ with high entry fee segments:
• Open topped 4X4 safari vehicles should be made mandatory. These must not be government
owned • High Nature Sensitive customer:
• Other amenities such as clean and functioning toilets for men and women must be built at • High Culture Sensitive customer:
entrance gates • High Comfort Sensitive customer:
• High Price Sensitive customer:
High Price Sensitive customer:
• A gate needs to be opened on the Udala side of the reserve––the side most affected by forest
and wildlife crimes. This will bring access to South Similipal within 3 - 4 hrs driving distance A. Experience promise to a High Nature Sensitive customer:

E. Bhitarkanika • A variety of experiences (boating, jeep, walking, cycling, machan, dug outs etc) should be on
offer for a visitor.
High Nature Sensitive customer:
• 90% probability to see the advertised USPs of a destination within 8 drives.
• Special experience of key species (crocodiles & fishing cats) etc • Ability to experience X% of the biodiversity (% to be decided by experts, out of total documented
• Pelagic tours into Gahirmatha Marine Wildlife Sanctuary may be explored biodiversity list) within 3 or 5 visits, in quietude and comfort.
• Night boat safaris may be regularised by fixing limits and issuing dedicated permits • In 5 visits, each visit should unveil a new area for at least Y% of the duration of safari
• Night activities (if required for specialized activities) experience should be allowed
High Culture Sensitive customer:
• Options for exclusive activities (including special interest activity like photography) at premium
• Quality of boat safaris has high potential for improvement ate / priority booking should be available, and should allow for -
• Smaller canoes may be considered for access into narrow creeks
▪ Longer time to spend in the park

High Price Sensitive customer:

▪ Ability to avoid over-crowded zones, and visit a preferred zone\

• Birds Interpretation Centre ▪ Concentrate on one activity / one species

F. Debrigarh • The vehicles / boats/ machans used should be comfortable, clean, safe, as noiseless as
possible, as pollution free as possible, and in good maintenance
High Nature Sensitive customer: • A knowledgeable, well-spoken, well-dressed and well-mannered guide should be available at a
• Introduction of ancillary activities such as siting on machan, nature trail, bushwalking etc.; max ratio of 1:6. (certified guide – min level)
• Extension of Jeep-safaris with different entry and exit routes • Tourist amenities like clean restrooms and refreshment points would be available within 45 min
• Zoning of the Tourism area driving time from any tourism area in the park; as well as at the entry gate.
• The destination would be litter free. Conservation, garbage management efforts from the park
High Culture Sensitive customer: should be visible and visitors should be briefed about the same.
• Implementation of 'Poachers turned protectors' model, Community to manage tourism • A process in place to collect feedback from a significant proportion of visitors post the experience
experiences, nature camps and activities in a neutral environment and periodic analysis of the same to be done to feedback into process
enhancement
4. Destination Experience Service Standards: In spite of growing interest in experiential tourism, • Enforceable rules in place to maximize the visitor experience and to moderate tourism behaviour
ecotourism destinations across the world continue to find ‘service quality’, a challenge. Nevertheless, in the park and ensure proper vigil. This would include:
this is a singular factor that differentiates a successful destination from a struggling one.
▪ Entry / Exit time and process
Standardization of the offerings is an important tool that offers confidence to the tourist of getting value ▪ Max time spent during one visit (Should ideally not be less than 2.5 hours; and on average
for his money. Standards are not only used for standardization of the product, but also as guidelines for at least 3 hours)
further development and for capacity building ▪ Rules of behaviour around a wild-life sighting
▪ Speed limits, U-turns etc
Largely, destination service quality standards are devised through intensive rounds of stakeholder ▪ Routine process to check if above are being followed
consultations. Actual performance against those standards needs to be measured in two ways: ▪ Assistance / guidance / mediation / disciplining action.

• through customer feedbacks as well as

• The safari booking experience should be hassle-free. It should be possible to book them online
• regular audits by independent experts remotely, at least 4 months in advance, and should have predictable rate regime.
• All the prevailing rules and costs should be declared in advance; and no surprises should be
sprung post the booking. These rules, along with Dos and Don’ts should be prominently
displayed at the entry gate.

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 • The entry experience at the gate should be pleasant and seamless. It should not require more behaviour with the community should be handed to the visitors at the time of booking the
than 15 min of wait time at the gate. experience; as well as explained to them.
• Nice to have – a well-stocked, souvenir shop selling relevant merchandise preferably created • Once at the venue of experience, should not be required to wait for more than 15 minutes;
locally a large portion of which should go towards conservation. waiting areas should be reasonably comfortable.
• Adequate number of staying options available at diverse price-points (0-2500; 2500-7500; and
7500 and above) that are within 30 min driving distance from the nearest gate. These staying
facilities should be geared to create a seamless experience for the guests opting for safari / D. Experience promise to a High Price Sensitive customer:
nature activities.
• Value for money leisure and / or nature experience, to be provided consistently at the advertised
quality level by private player / community collective
B. Experience promise to a High Culture Sensitive customer: • Duration of the experience to range from 30 min to full day
• Min standards of safety, hygiene and comfort should always be complied with
• Authentic cultural experiences on at least 3 topics (chosen from varied options of village walk, • Efficient and courteous customer service
cuisine, folksongs / dance, cultural practices, livelihood practices, festivals / ceremonies, crafts • Hassle-free and efficient booking process
heritage, special skills etc) delivered by community collectives. • All the prevailing rules and costs should be declared in advance in writing; and no surprises
• Duration of the experience to range from 1 hour to full day should be sprung post the booking. These rules, along with Dos and Don’ts of appropriate
• Information provided during tours authenticated by proper research behaviour with the community should be handed to the visitors at the time of booking the
• Interactions to be unobtrusive and respectful and should not come across as purely commercial experience; as well as explained to them.
activities. • Once at the venue of experience, should not be required to wait for more than 15 minutes;
• Trained, certified, local, cultural guides waiting areas should be reasonably comfortable.
• Hygiene and safety checks to be met with especially in relation to elderly, children and differently
abled. 6.6 Community Benefit Sharing
• Hygiene standards to be met especially when eatables are being offered
• Clean, hygienic and private facility for use by guests as a restroom; there should be adequate 6.6.1 Need for a Community Benefit approach
places to stop and sit.
• A process to put in place collect feedback from a significant proportion of visitors post the Many forests in Odisha suffer from severe issues of poaching, anthropogenic pressures and man-animal
experience in a neutral environment and periodic analysis of the same to be done to feedback conflict. While this is a major concern from the conservation point of view, it is also one of the main reasons
into process enhancement. behind sluggish growth of eco-tourism in the state. The solution should therefore involve working on attitudes
• An easy way to find out about the experience and book the same. of the communities in a way that they start seeing collaborative conservation as a rewarding activity.
• All the prevailing rules and costs should be declared in advance in writing; and no surprises
The forest department on the other hand, needs to come out of facility / property perspective and instead
should be sprung post the booking. These rules, along with Dos and Don’ts of appropriate
needs to adopt the destination perspective. Once the tourists recognize the experience to be arising out of
behaviour with the community should be handed to the visitors at the time of booking the
the socio-ecology, they are interested in experiencing the same and paying for it rather than look at the value
experience; as well as explained to them.
proposition only from the perspective of a property. The community benefit approach also recognizes the
fundamental rights of the communities over the forest assets that has recently been encoded in the Forest
Rights Act 2016. It needs to be however noted that while FRA enshrines rights of the communities in the
C. Experience promise to a High Comfort Sensitive customer:
terrestrial forests, it does not cover the marine ecosystems and thus leaves out the rights of the traditional
fishing communities.

• Good quality, leisure experiences, at least 2 (chosen from varied options of leisure boat ride,
6.6.2 Models for spreading community benefit in tourism projects
sunrise / sundown experiences / gourmet meal experience / games / soft-adventure sports / soft-
trek / visit to a monument etc) delivered by private players or community collectives. Various state governments have coined different types of tourism models
• Duration of the experience to range from 30 min to full day
• Information provided during tours authenticated by proper research
• High standards of safety, hygiene and comfort with reasonable privacy and exclusiveness
Sl Ownership Investment Operations Working models
• Highly trained, certified, experience providers
No
• Adequate no of good quality restrooms
• Access to good quality, variety refreshments if the experience is longer than 3 hours 1 Govt. owned Govt. Invest Govt. run Ecotour, Madhya Pradesh Park Gates
• High standard of cleanliness and customer service 2 Govt. owned Govt. Invest Community run Tadoba Gate, Maharashtra
• Hassle-free and efficient booking process 3 Govt. owned Govt Corp. Govt Corp. run Jungle lodges, Karnataka
• All the prevailing rules and costs should be declared in advance in writing; and no surprises
should be sprung post the booking. These rules, along with Dos and Don’ts of appropriate Community Govt. Invest Community run Araku Valley, Andhra Pradesh
4
Owned

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 Private owned Private Investment Private run Desia, Koraput Sl Ownership Investment Operations Advantages Disadvantages
5
Singinawa Jungle Lodge, MP No
Community CSR / NGO Invest Community run Mangalajodi Ecotourism Trust, Odisha Driven by Social businesses,
6 Initial projects may take
owned it brings the best of corporate
longer to take off and would
Community Private Invested Private run Bamboo Forest Safari Lodge, Private + and philanthropic worlds
7 8 Community CSR/NGO require financial staying
Owned Maharashtra Community together and aims at creating
power on part of the private
a scalable, profitable and
Community CSR / NGO Invest Private + GHE (Global Himalayan Expedition) player
8 sustainable model
Owned Community
6.6.3 Current Community Benefit Mechanism at Ecotour
A comparative critique of them is summarised below:
Sl Ownership Investment Operations Advantages Disadvantages Ecotour is following the following a model of very high government control which sets aside a significant part
No of revenue for the community

Easiest to kick-off; Suitable Limited by Govt funding;

Components %Share Description
when no private player is No community ownership
1 Govt. Govt. Govt.
interested or community Ops quality questionable ETG Wage salary Shared by Management Committee of the
35
institutions not there Shuts out other stakeholders (online transfer to resp. community accounts) community towards wages
Creates ownership within Difficult to drive quality in Recurring Expenses For daily expenses & management of
25
community; maybe suitable operations; very difficult to (online transfer to resp. community accounts) nature camps
2 Govt. Govt. Community Infrastructure Development Major maintenance, improvement in
when no private player is market it; sustainability may 10
interested be a big challenge (online transfer to resp. community accounts) infrastructures
EDC Share
Very easy to kick-off; an Not conducive to attract 10 For development works in local villages
(online transfer to resp. community accounts)
easier way of bringing private investment; creates
3 Govt. Govt Corp Govt Corp Corpus Fund Salary of hospitality experts engages in
professionalism in absence state-led-monopolistic 10
(with PCCF WL) different ecotourism destinations
of private players behavior
Govt. Revenue 10 Share to the public exchequer
May succeed if the Total 100
Difficult to drive quality in
community organizations are
operations; very difficult to
4 Community Govt. Community mature and they have a In the early stages, when many destinations in Odisha were not attracting tourism investors, this may have
market it; sustainability may
sense of ownership and been a vehicle to kick-start ecotourism activity in the state and to that extent it has played its part. However,
be a big challenge the total benefit to the community is restricted by the government’s ability to invest as well as successfully
entrepreneurship
operate a tourism enterprise. The model has taken off on the back of a few passionate forest officials, but
Private player may inflate that cannot guarantee a sustainable future.
If the private player is
their community contribution
evolved enough, it can use
and may not make a Another big draw-back of this model is that the community gets into a role of passive recipient of benefits and
5 Private Private Private community involvement as a has no incentive to step up to take ownership. When government departments become a business player in
meaningful difference. There
business differentiator. Africa an industry that it regulates, it also creates a skewed playing field for the private operators and kills enterprise
is no support from
has done this successfully. and investment.
government
Operations quality and 6.6.4 Challenges with current level of community involvement in Ecotour initiative
When incubated by a good
marketing will be a challenge
NGO; creates capability and Tourism is not a natural activity for the local community, there are multiple factors that affect the community’s
if the NGO does not tourism
ownership within the readiness for any new activity. As per the learnings from the development sector, community readiness has
6 Community CSR/ NGO Community expertise. Government multiple stages in behaviour change for adopting a new livelihood model.
community. Creates and
machinery may not be
enabling eco-system through
engaged making it tougher Currently, the Odisha Forest Department uses EDCs as a vehicle for involvement of communities in the
CSR partners
for everyone tourism enterprise. There are three issues related to the current status:
In case of a dispute between • In absence of a destination level approach, the engagement of EDCs with tourism tends to be project
Built around the concept of
Private player and based. The whole perspective gets limited to management of a facility rather than a larger perspective
private conservancies where
7 Community Private Private community, Govt may not be of ecosystem development.
Govt creates incentives
able to play the role of a
DBFOT model • There is no clear pathway of capacitating an EDC unlike how NRLM developed its SHGs. In absence
credible intermediary
of such a path, EDC tend to lack agency and self-reliance.

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 • Post Passing of Forest Rights Act, a lot of communities will get their CFR recognized sooner or later. have been addressed adequately, can the tourism initiative be a holistic activity. Shaam-e-Sarhad at
The current experience of Ecotour has not prepared the forest department or the communities Hodka Kutch Gujarat grew out of such enabling foundation and was able to become the only self-
adequately for managing that transition. sustainable project.
7. Stage 7: Gaining of expertise – Guided by the enabling ecosystem, various community members
For a true conservation-oriented community-based tourism model, the community would need to typically become proficient in many aspects of ecotourism as well as conservation. The community organization
transition from low engagement with conservation and tourism to a very high level of ownership of also starts becoming mature; and working relationships between various members evolve. This marks
conservation and tourism issues. This transition may typical involve following 10 stages and each of the stage the phase wherein the community is able to take over some of the activities traditionally handled by
requires specific response from the forest department. experts. Local youth taking over marketing initiatives can be one such milestone.
8. Stage 8: Navigating rough patches – Once initial forays become successful, the community can now
The forest department is encouraged to do a self-assessment to assess the maturity of the community on the face-up the contradictions between its various behaviours. For example, it may start seeing how short-
below continuum as well as their response to the process of evolution. term gains can cause long-term damage or it may recognize that some of the old practices / rituals have
1. Stage 1: Absence of awareness – In this stage, the community does not fully understand their role in impacts that are not sustainable. Helped by the enabling ecosystem, the community can choose new
ecotourism and is indifferent to it. It is, therefore, advisable not to headlong plunge into a tourism initiative. behaviours and trade-offs. Sometimes these trade-offs may include balancing between conservation and
An activity that builds confidence with the community is often an important first step. A good example of tourism needs. Tadoba is a good example wherein the community has chosen to give up many extractive
such an approach is The Snow Leopard Conservancy's (SLC's) initial activities around the issue of practices because they have grown to recognize the long-term benefits of conservation in form of higher
livestock predation by snow leopard. Once the communities were confident that in the eyes of SLC, their tourism receipts.
interests were as important as that of snow leopard's or the tourists, their involvement was much deeper. 9. Stage 9: Understanding business models – The community organization and its leaders start learning
2. Stage 2: Denial or resistance – In this stage, there is little recognition or concern among community to understand the nuances of the business models, the risk profiles, the entrepreneurial spirit required as
members about their current practices that put pressure on biodiversity. They are also cynical about well as a fair system of benefit and opportunity sharing. They are mature enough to enter into MoUs with
ability of tourism to create significant livelihood. Building engagement with the community so that they private and public bodies outside of forest department.
see themselves as custodians of the forests is extremely important. WWF's work with ITBP to convert 10. Stage 10: High level of community stewardrship – This is the most mature stage of the community
them from occasional hunters to protectors is a case in point. organization. Here, the community truly starts seeing the full picture at the destination level and is able
3. Stage 3: Claiming the heritage – The community is becoming aware of the issues, but the motivation to balance the needs of various EDCs or projects. The community also learns how to create incentives
to address it is low. There is low confidence in their ability to be seen, heard and acknowledged by various to enlarge the benefit pie by creating incentives that are driven by performance (hence unequal), but at
stakeholders. They are also often not very expressive with reference to their own socio-ecological-cultural the same time, attempt to share it fairly.
heritage. It is very important that the community works on these aspects with the help of an enabling
eco-system much before they get exposed to tourists. In absence of this preparation, there is a strong As capacity building of forest dependent communities in Odisha on ecotourism is currently put at stage 3,
danger of the indigenous culture being paraded in front of tourists as a commodity. NGOs and experts there is a long road ahead before community managed tourism can become truly an independent activity that
should ideally be roped in for this stage to adequately document the intangible culture of an area so that benefits all stakeholders.
a tourist is truly able to appreciate the linkage between ecological knowledge, ancient wisdom,
biodiversity as well as local culture. The focus of such work is not only aimed at tourists but is also equally 6.6.5 Proposed structure for Destination Management Units
geared towards creating dialogue within the communities themselves. A very good example is cafe Ethnic
that grew out of Deccan Development Society's work on millets with indigenous communities. As discussed earlier, for the next 5 years, the focus should be on deepening the efforts in 10 select places
4. Stage 4: Emergence of representative Community Institutional structure – the community adopts a rather than spreading the efforts thin on more locations.
community institution that be their vehicle for driving conservation and tourism within the overall
developmental context. Sometimes it can be a ground-up activity of some SHGs (Self-help Groups) The Destination Management Unit in each of the 10 chosen destinations would be an entity with a balanced
coming together in form of a Federation, or it can be an FPC (Farmer Producing Company) kind of board with the District Collector as the Chairman. The Tourism Manager would act as the CEO of the entity.
structure with a few proposers initially. The Destination Management Committee proposed earlier is
expected to be the umbrella organization under which an appropriate institution can emerge. It is The governance structure of the Destination Management Units would include:
therefore, extremely important that these DMUs have the capacity to conceptualize and capacitate such • Ex-officio position – Collector of the district
community institutions. Currently, the forest department creates EDC which may on one hand be too • Ex-officio position – District rural officer
large and on other hand represent only a small part of a larger interconnected whole. Currently, there is • Ex-officio position – DFO of the region
no platform for EDCs from various villages to collaborate on tourism projects that may span across • community representatives of the EDCs falling under the destination,
villages. This becomes particularly contentious in marine landscapes where fishing communities get • representative of the on-the-ground / partner NGOs
marginalized as the areas, they operate in do does not fall within forest areas and the EDCs only • Green Business groups
represent a sub-set of community stakeholders. Forest department needs to be cognizant of such • Financing institutions
possible exclusions and needs to take steps to rectify them. Periyar National Park is a good example • Noted environmentalist/ institution working in the area,
where specially created SHG of ex-poachers was used successfully to engage them meaningfully and • Representative of reputed / global agencies involved in sustainable tourism etc.
powerfully within the tourism value chain.
5. Stage 5: Laying the foundation and creating strong bonds – For a lasting community endeavour that The following principles should guide the implementation process at each destination:
weathers many storms, it is important that the community structure is bound by common goals. While it
is true that the potential benefits from tourism are a strong motivation, but tourism receipts can be • A thorough baseline to map the existing community dynamics with respect to human-wildlife conflict,
unpredictable and sometimes a source of discord within the community; therefore, it is important to livelihood options, cultural practices of various interest groups to be done. This should also include
anchor these institutions in something far bigger. In Pithoragarh for example, the members of the Maati aspirations and prevailing attitudes towards quality of life, conservation issues, and tourism. Identification
organization first came together as members of Van Panchayat and this primary relationship helps them of credible on-the ground NGOs working in the geography, presence of green business groups /
tremendously in navigating issues around tourism. Members not contributing enough to the Van educational institutions and global agencies should be made.
Panchayat start getting excluded from tourism benefits. • An engagement plan with various local interest groups needs to be created with the help of the
6. Stage 6: Initiation of community tourism enterprise – In this stage, the community begins activities to stakeholders identified above.
establish a conservation-led ecotourism model with the help of experts, developmental organizations and • A knowledge management unit on socio-ecological-cultural components should be created comprising of
is supported by the government through schemes and incentives. Only if the five stages mentioned above local champions as well as subject domain experts. This knowledge management unit would be anchored

Roadmap for Development of Ecotourism Sector in Odisha Page 68 Roadmap for Development of Ecotourism Sector in Odisha Page 69
 by the Tourism Manager of the DMU of each destination and would ensure that all the tourism interactions 4. Hospitality Training
remain within the limits of acceptable change.
• The community institutional representation in decision making at all levels need to be ensured. The OES needs to engage a competent organisation that impart hospitality training to the local
• A stronger incentive-based mechanism that solicits larger community ownership, rights, and broad basing communities. This initiative will help to reinforce local youth to get mainstreamed in ecotourism and
economic gains for all needs to be envisaged. For example, revenue utilization model needs to be more ancillary activities.
comprehensive and accommodative enough to encourage creation of community assets. Such assets
can be community managed eco-parks, water bodies, lakes, theme parks etc. that complements to local OES on the lines of MPEDB and Pench Tiger Reserve should identify an agency that can impart training
wisdom, ecology and wellbeing. in hotel management, housekeeping & food and beverage services to the local youth from the fringe
villages of the Protected Area or villages from the most interior areas of the state.
Once all the above are in place, various models can emerge as per the structure below:
Ownership Investment Operations Pench Tiger Conservation Foundation had associated with the Pratham Arora Centre for Education,
Govt. / Community CSR + NGO + Govt + Private Private + Community Mumbai in 2016 to come up with a centre in the tiger reserve with an aim to provide training to at least
360 youths in a year. Training assured 100% job placement of rural and marginalised youth in the
hotel/hospitality industry.
1. Outputs of the DMUs:
5. Tourism Training
• Achieve the Economic, Social and Ecological goals for the destination
• Drive the improvement in the Destination Service Standards and achieve targeted values Odisha could also emulate from Tadoba initiatives on tourism training. The Maharashtra Forest
• Track Customer satisfaction with hospitality operations in the destination including Ecotour Department (MFD) had supported the formation of Eco-Development Committees (EDCs) & Village
• Enter into MoUs with relevant experts Development Committees (VDCs) in Tadoba and the neighbouring forest villages to benefit local
communities from tourism. These committees were made self-sufficient by officially allowing them to ‘man
and collect’ the gate money from the tourists at the entry points to the forests which was previously
2. Sources of Income for DMUs: collected by the Forest Department and contributed to the state’s treasury.

• All the tourism related receipts to the government The Forest department facilitated training for youth, boys and girls, in imparting training for becoming
• Affiliation fee collected from various tourism or tourism allied businesses/ community enterprises naturalists and adventure experts. Tadoba-Andhari Tiger Reserve has now officially formed ‘Women
Birdwatching Squad’ composed of village girls as guides for birdwatching. (Details in Annexure G)

6.6.6 Centre of Excellence- Capacity Building 6. Knowledge management unit around intangible Arts & Craft

The success of this strategy would squarely depend on the capacity building of the various stakeholders. Art, crafts and architecture form an important part in making destinations ‘unique’. It has been reported
OES need to curate a center of excellence that would be tasked with the following activities: that adapting indigenous techniques of art, crafts and architecture results in improved climate resiliency.
Odisha being replete with the population of indigenous people, focus on promoting indigenous artisanship
1. Forest & Government Officials will be needed. Odisha Ecotourism society with the help of an NGO or private institution may facilitate
formation of a community-led institution comprising technical experts for local area planning.
Tourism is a specialized activity with multiple competences needed at various levels. Ecotourism requires
a mind-set change where a certain sensitivity needs to be developed in the minds of potential service Hunnarshala Foundation in Kutch, Gujarat is one such institution that facilitates adaptation of indigenous
providers towards sustainability of environment, culture, biodiversity etc. There is a requirement of architecture by working with a group of engineers, architects, and local master artisans from the region
training of government officials across all departments to the concepts of ecotourism, sustainable tourism and building sustainable habitats using traditional knowledge in contemporary architecture. The
and responsibility of all the stakeholders in making the business of tourism sustainable. This includes foundation helps incubate artisan enterprises by forming artisan collectives making artisans equal
capacity building towards tourism mind-set in forest department officials where it is important that they partners in the design and research phases of building proof-of-concept and encouraging the collective
treat ecotourism as an activity ancillary to and supportive of conservation. This is especially relevant for to be able to execute them and market on their own. Hunnarshala helps these companies at the stages
the 10 chosen destinations. from providing formal training to providing design support for projects, to financial, accounting and
administrative as well as legal support.
2. Destination Management Unit
7. Enterprise development
The cadre managing these DMUs needs to be honed specifically. The community benefit paradigm is
intricately linked to the professionalization of the DMC in a destination. The management of this unit Enterprise strategy, when extended to the ecological level of analysis, provides a sound ethical basis for
needs to be professional with less control by the forest department. Forest department has to play a developing ecologically sensitive strategic management systems which allow organizations to satisfy the
greater role of enabler and regulator rather than having the management control. More importantly the demands of the myriad stakeholders that represent the destination in the immediate business arena.
department has to see ecotourism as a major to support conservation effort in its true spirit. The
experience suggests that the professional placed under departmental control without strong decision- A case of Waste Warrior, Corbett solicits this fact. Despite being an indirect ecotourism entity the
making power often fails to deliver the result. organisation because of its intervention in making the Jim-Corbett National Park solid-waste free, now
commands a special place in the panchayat in matters concerning village governance. The case study
3. Communities of Waste Warrior, Corbett highlights importance of the development of an activity which is ancillary to the
sustenance of ecotourism destination to snowballing effect which encourages local communities to form
Community based tourism is an ideal solution for the problem of livelihood generation for the community organisation in the collection, segregation, recycling/reuse or disposal of the solid waste brought by the
and tourism has a potential to resolve the problem of unemployment in the rural and forested areas of tourists in the park. Odisha need to facilitate such enterprises by identifying a right player who can train
Odisha. Capacity building is required at continuous level for making the community ‘tourism’ ready. This the local communities on the aspects of solid-waste management.
can be (and is being done) in association with various institutes under different government departments.

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6.6.7 Branding, Promotion and Sales Network and Bookings. Ecotourism needs to actively and aggressively look at these channels in a more planned and
long-term manner to create a more stringent promotion and Sales network.
1. Branding and Promotion
6.7 Action Plans
OES needs to differentiate its work as custodian of conservation and tourism related initiatives in the
region as well its role as a property manager in ecotourism. It therefore needs to float a new brand that The Action points discussed against each strategy in section 6.3 is summarised below:
represents its broader role encapsulated by DMUs. As a placeholder, this brand can be something like
“Natural Odisha”
6.7.1 Short-term Action Plans at State Level
Natural Odisha will be a common, strong and unique mother brand that will represent sustainable, 1. Create a center for Excellence/ PMU with OES
experiential and diversified ecotourism of the state - be it incubated by forest department, any other govt 2. Creation of Rural Tourism Division at the Dept of Tourism
department, any NGO or a private entity – as long as they adhere to the principles defined by it. Supported
3. To pursue the case for acknowledging ecotourism as a legitimate forestry activity with the MoEF &
by the beautiful imagery that Odisha Tourism communication is known for, the brand needs to have an
easy recall and should be able to have its own standalone image in the mind of the prospective tourist. CC
The brand would be a rallying cry for:
6.7.2 Short-term Action Plans at Destination Level
▪ Responsible tourists who would be educated on how “Natural Odisha” products and
1. Create Destination Management Committees and other stakeholders through center of excellence
services are responsible and sustainable besides being high-quality, ethical and beautiful
▪ Volunteers who want to be part of the change 2. Capacitate DMCs for professional working
▪ Businesses that want to create sustainable and ethical businesses 3. Base-line studies (ecological and social aspects)
▪ Communities that balance conservation and development 4. Identify and prioritize ‘USP’ of Priority Sites & Long Gestation Sites (refer section 5.2)
▪ Entrepreneurs that incubate social enterprises 5. Undertake Carrying capacity studies
▪ Developmental organizations who steer this change-process shoulder to shoulder 6. Create Destination tourism management plans (for each of the three market segments)
7. Define target Destination service standards. Creation of SOPs and guidelines wrt Plastic, Waste,
The current brand name of “Ecotour” will only apply to forest department owned hospitality assets. The current
Food Wastage, Responsible behavior etc
name, however, evokes the imagery of a tour operator and not of the accommodation experiences created
by the forest department. Moving away from the generic terminology of ‘Ecotour’ will enable its target 8. Audit the current status against target service standards
customers to clearly identify the product offering: well-managed accommodations involving community 9. Identify on-the-ground partners to work with the communities
participation., 10. Create knowledge management groups in participation with the communities
11. Create action plans for environment friendly tourism and hospitality infrastructure
Emotive and inspiring messaging built around the brand shall be delivered through traditional media such as 12. Choose appropriate PPP and PPC models
advertising on a massive scale as well as the new media such as Digital media and social media and will 13. Hand-hold community institutions
need to focus on bringing the brand on a top of mind recall status. This shall be supported by PR and
14. Creation of a differentiating ‘Rural Tourism’/ Ecotourism Brand
influencer programmes as they engage consumers further up the conversion funnel. Influencer and event/film
activations will deliver engaging messages through credible third parties to drive greater preference for visiting 15. A robust Branding and Marketing plan centered around the USPs of the destination
ecotourism destinations in Odisha. 16. Easy access to credit and financing of Eco-enterprises
A useful new age marketing tool is also the tool to create and promote ‘Tourist Community building ‘through
dedicated community platform for future travellers, current travellers, and former travellers. This community 6.7.3 Long Term Action Plans at State Level
ensures that there is always repeat visits to the state, enhancing the tourist flow into the state.
1. Exploring/Developing new Destinations
2. Improve State Level Connectivity Infrastructure encompassing Road, Rail and Air Network
It is also of extreme importance to manage the customer expectations and set behaviour guidelines on
3. Responsible Rural Tourism recognized as an important Livelihood measure across the state to
Responsible behaviour while visiting ‘Eco sensitive destinations’ through stringent social media promotion.
mitigate unemployment, poverty and Migration
The state may consider tying up with RTSOI on the ‘Responsible Traveller’ campaign for the same. This may
4. Aggressive social media and word of mouth marketing positioning the state as a Rural & Eco
also engage highly price sensitive tourists who flock the state from the neighbouring states, making them
Destination
participate in conversations around sustainable and responsible travel, futuristically altering the irresponsible
5. Incentives and Tax holidays to Enterprises developing/practicing Ecotourism
behaviours associated with this tourist segment.
6.7.4 Long Term Action Plans at Destination Level
2. Strengthening the Sales network
1. Empowered DMU to take independent tourism decisions
Ecotour Odisha embarked solo on the promotion of nature-based tourism. A sales channel was created via 2. Functional EDC & SPVs
the ‘Ecotour’ website. While it has served its purpose in the initial days, it is time that the wider travel and 3. Stringent Waste Management strategies
tourism industry is engaged in a more effective manner. This may involve sharing a little more profit than is 4. Promote Rural Tourism and Homestays
currently being shared. But this shall result in the destination messaging reaching the future tourists from all 5. Evaluation of planning & implementation
sectors of the industry.

An important reality of today’s marketplace is the presence of online travel aggregators like make my trip,
clear trip etc. Odisha falls far short of its potential in being promoted on these channels of customer’s choice

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 6.8 Way forward

The study entails a holistic understanding of ecotourism in the world, India and Odisha. Through this study,
ecotourism in Odisha is analysed in comparison to best working models elsewhere, enabling the state to
introspect its achievements & weaknesses.

As the engagement duration was limited, a comprehensive research and micro assessment of the ecotourism
destination would still be a necessity. Also, since the field visits were undertaken during the pandemic with
impending restrictions, very less tourists were interviewed physically. The Roadmap proposes to undertake
further, master planning exercises having carrying capacity evaluation and spatial analysis of ecotourism
destinations for a more in-depth study. These destination master plans hold key in achieving the targets set
under each of the sustainable tourism pillar in this Roadmap.

Our research also brought out the prospects of ecotourism as a new product emerging in the world particularly
with the changed perception due to COVID disruptions in hospitality chain. Even within domestic tourists in
India, people are increasingly looking forward to exploring newer offbeat destinations. The Roadmap tries to
capture these potential attributes and propagate ecotourism aggressively in the state by assimilating the
aspirations of the communities at large present at similar locations in Odisha.

6.8.1 Proposed work plan

The major tasks discussed above & in section 6.3 is mapped on a 10-year workplan to summarise the salient
interventions suggested in the Roadmap.
No. Major Interventions Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6 Year 7 Year 8 Year 9 Year 10
A Soft Interventions
1 Research & Development
2 Tourism Plans
3 Destination Master Plans
4 Monitoring & reporting
5 New EDCs
6 Workshops
7 Training programmes
Branding: new Logo &
8 Tagline
9 Social media Upgradation
10 Film Production
B Hard Interventions
1 Airport Development
2 Improving connectivity
3 Accommodation
4 Ecotour activities
5 Implementation of Plans

Dasingbadi Waterfall Roadmap for Development of Ecotourism Sector in Odisha Page 75

Bichitrapur
6.8.2 Block cost estimates

The tentative cost associated with major projects and action plans proposed is the Roadmap (10 years) is discussed below:

Type of Rate Estimated

Quantity
Major Projects Rs. in Crore Cost* Rationale on rates Details
Interventions (Numbers)
per unit Rs. in Crore
A Soft Interventions

One time engagement for target market research

Research- USP, Site selection,
1 1 1 study, identification of USP & creating new brand
CC study, Zoning
strategy for Ecotour Odisha

30 0.5 15 Current market rates in The Plan would map ecotourism circuits in all
Planning & Tourism Management Plans
1 consultancy for Govt. districts
Design
Advisory services 10 model ecotourism destination plans would be
Destination Master Plans 10 1.5 15
created
Biennial review of KPIs related to ecotourism at
Monitoring & reporting 10 0.25 12.5
10 model locations for 10 years
New EDCs 40 0.5 20 General Administrative
Institutional Capacity Building workshops 80 0.25 20 expenses (lumpsum) Annual Expenses for conducting meetings,
2
Restructuring excluding recruitment of reviews and workshops
Fortnight Training programmes 160 0.25 40 professionals
Branding Collaterals with new
1 25 25 Current market rates in One time engagement.
Logo & Tagline Design
consultancy for Govt.
Website, Social media Advisory services Monthly retainership fee for the consultants at
10 0.6 6
Upgradation Rs.5 lakh.
Branding
3
Promotion Minimum Sponsorship docket
Comparison in distribution of rooms in Private
Collaboration & Ecotour
with OTT, Film &properties for associating as 'Location Sponsorship and pre-production expenses
5 5 25
Documentary Production houses Partner' with Film production capped at Rs. 5 Cr per Film/ Documentary
houses
Inference - Though ecotour properties are yet to be developed in Koraput and Rayagada, these regions have presently good presence of private providers.

Sum (A) 180

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 Type of Rate Estimated
Quantity
Major Projects Rs. in Crore Cost* Rationale on rates Details
Interventions (Numbers)
per unit Rs. in Crore
B Hard Interventions

Govt. of Odisha to identify 2 new Airports under PPP with initial expenditure
Airport Development 2 100 200 land for construction of 2 new for land alienation, Site Development &
airports under PPP model facilitating basic Infrastructure.
1 Connectivity
Connecting Jharsuguda &
50% of Basic Fare to be borne by Govt. for 100
Improving Flight connectivity 2 27 54 Jeypore under UDAAN/
seats; 2 weekly flights- To & Fro from 4 metros
Similar for 2 years
Current market rates in
Accommodation 400 0.25 100 40 new locations with 10 room keys
hospitality for Budget hotels
2 Nature camps
Lumpsum allocation per Procurement of less intrusive equipment/
Ecotour activities 80 1 80
destination accessories
Govt. of Odisha to identify 2 new Airports under PPP with initial expenditure
Destination
3 Implementation of Plans 10 100 1000 land for construction of 2 new for land alienation, Site Development &
Infra
airports under PPP model facilitating basic Infrastructure.
Sum (B) 1434

Total A + B 1613

Comparison in distribution of rooms in Private & Ecotour properties

Inference - Though ecotour properties are yet to be developed in Koraput and Rayagada, these regions have presently good presence of private providers.

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A. Pattern of Foreign Visits in Odisha Emerging areas
Though the state registered an overall 7% increase in FTV during 2017-19, districts in the north along with
Foreign Visits Rayagada and Koraput had higher trends of foreign visitation. Improved connectivity with the neighboring
Odisha is currently ranked at 22nd among the Indian states for foreign tourist visits (FTV) in 2019 accounting states and safer conditions could have played an important role in promoting tourism in these regions.
for less than 1% of the arrivals in India. However, in the past five years it had grown annually at 9.8% which
is at par with the national trend. The graphs below represent the growth in Foreign Tourist Visits (FTV) and
Inflow of Money through foreign tourists in the recent years.

1.2 500

Expenditure in crore
1 400
Visits in lakh

0.8
300
0.6
200
0.4
0.2 100
0 0
2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20
Odisha Inflow of Money- International tourists
Arrivals in Lakh (in years) (INR Crores)

FTVs in Odisha 2015-20

Source: Odisha Statistical bulletin 2019

Geographic concentration
Among the foreign tourists, the golden triangle continued to be the favorites as about 80% of the visits were
recorded in Puri and Khorda districts.

Major Hotspots: Foreign visits

Key destinations for foreign visitations in the state are as below (FTV):
► Bhubaneswar (42104)
► Puri (37534)
► Dhauli (11625)
► Konark (7499)

Composition of Visits Foreign visitation in Odisha-2019

Source: Odisha Statistical bulletin 2019
About 30% of the foreigners visiting Odisha during 2019 were from the countries of USA, UK, China & Japan
where the state is not their primary port of entry. The state’s proximity to southeast Asian countries, which it
enjoys direct flight connectivity over recent times could be the emerging source market

China
8% Japan
10% U.K
U.S.A
38%
7% Netharlands
Malayasia
10% France
Italy
3% 5% Germany
5%5% 5%4%
Bangladesh
Others

Country wise FTAs in Odisha 2019,

Source: Odisha Statistical bulletin 2019

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B. Pattern of Domestic Visits in Odisha
Domestic visits
Odisha receives about 15 million domestic visitations, with a CAGR of 4.5% in the last 5 years.

18 18,000

EXPENDITURE IN CRORE
16 16,000
VISITS IN LAKH

14 14,000
12 12,000
10 10,000
8 8,000
6 6,000
4 4,000
2 2,000
0 0
2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20

Odisha Domestic Tourists Inflow of Money

(Million) (INR Crores)

DTV in Odisha
Source: Odisha Statistical bulletin 2019

Geographic concentration
It is observed that the golden triangle of Bhubaneswar-Puri-Konark continues to entice more than half of the
tourists coming into the state. Bhubaneswar being the capital city, acts as a window for the visitors by offering
best lodging facilities in the state. Puri and Khorda districts having destinations of Jagannath temple, Konark
sun temple, Bhubaneswar city and Chilika lake receives around 50% of the tourists.

Major Hotspots: Domestic visits

Key destinations for domestic visitations in the state are as below (DTV):
1. Puri (134 Lakh)
2. Balasore (48 Lakh) Composition of domestic tourists in Odisha
3. Konark (43 Lakh) Source: Odisha Tourism Statistics 2019

4. Bhubaneswar (32 Lakh)

Composition of Visits
Odisha has a high intensity of overnight domestic tourism, with an average of 541 trips per 100 households,
as compared to all India average 418 trips per 100 households. (National council of Applied Economic
Research, 2015). This phenomenon is reflected in the state-wise break up of domestic tourist. About 60% of
the tourists recorded at its destinations were from within the state of Odisha. Neighbouring states of West
Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra contributes to around 20% of the footfall. It is
observed that about 75% of the domestic tourists travel through rail and rest through air & road. This
information is reflected in the spatial distribution of visitors from various states of the country into Odisha.

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Emerging areas Tourism Density Index
On an average there has been a 5% average rise in domestic visits in the state (2017-19). However, few The inequitable proportion is clear while analyzing the tourism density index of the state. As expected, Puri
districts recorded more than 10% growth rate during this period namely, Nuapada, Koraput, Kalahandi, district has 4 times as many tourists per localities than Bhubaneswar.
Malkangiri, Sambalpur, Debagarh, Jharsuguda, Nawarangpur and Rayagada. Which indicates increasing
popularity for tribal and natural landscapes in the state among the travelers as these regions were popular 15
for. Figure below shows the spatial distribution of domestic tourists in 2019.
13

11

-1

-3

-5

Rayagada
Kandhamal

Mayurbhanj

Nuapada
Jharsuguda

Sonepur
Angul

Nabarangpur

Sambalpur
Cuttack

Khordha

Malkangiri

Nayagarh
Bhadrak
Baleshwar

Jagatsinghpur

Kalahandi
Dhenkanal

Jajpur
Ganjam

Kendrapara

Koraput
Keonjhar
Gajapati

Puri
Baragarh

Bolangir

Deogarh
Boudh

Sundargarh
Tourism Density Index of various districts in Odisha (2019),
Developed from: Census 2011, DoT Statistics 2019

The districts having a negative tourism density index with a unique and unexplored tourism attractions acts
as a good platform for responsible and experiential tourism as these involves intense engagements with local
community.

Domestic visitation in Odisha-2019

Source: Odisha Statistical bulletin 2019

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C. Pattern of Nature Based Visits in Odisha Major Hotspots: visits in natural landscapes
Key destinations for visitations in natural landscapes of the state are as below:
In supplementing the above observations on emerging trends favouring ecotourism in the state, about 15%
of the total visitations was recorded at locations known for natural landscapes in 2019. Also, there has been 1. Nanadankanan (28 Lakh)
a 3% jump in these visits over the last three years. 2. Kapilas (8.8 Lakh)
3. Nrusimhanath (6.1 Lakh)
4. Panchalingeswar (5.1 Lakh)
5. Hirakud (3.1 Lakh)
6. Sanaghagara (4.1 Lakh)

Visitation to natural landscapes in 2019

Source: Odisha Statistical bulletin 2019

Emerging areas
Districts with highest growth rate in visitation during 2017-19 towards natural landscapes were:
1. Koraput (19%)
2. Malkangiri (17%)
3. Nuapada (16%)
4. Sambalpur (15%)
5. Jharsuguda (15%)
6. Debagarh (14%)

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D. Analysis of Ecotourism Overview in Odisha Nature camps visited during Study period

Forest Nature Rev. ETG Revenue/ Visits Revenue/

Division Destination Camps Rooms FY 19-20 CAGR member Room 2019-20 Per Capita
Visitation & Revenue
Barehipani 8 23.26 0 16 779
Jamuani 14 31.68 32% 20 1,432
There has been a fourfold increase in the tourist footfall & six times increase in the revenues over the last 4
Kumari 14 30.13 27% 20 1,326
years.
DD Simlipal Simlipal Gurguria 6 13.04 21% 20 583
North Nature 2.19 2,144
8
Year Annual Visitors Revenue (Rs. Lakh) Division Camps
Ramatirtha 15.71 36% 1,189
2 5
2015-16 1,900 47
8
Sub Total 113.82 39% 81 5,309
2016-17 11,500 157 44

2017-18 17,148 340 Mahanadi 7

Satkosia
Wildlife Sub Total 108.69 78% 34 4,807
Sands Resort 12
2018-19 29,024 561 Division
4.83 2,225
Nayagarh
2019-20 46,019 685 Forest
Sidhamula
Sub Total 4 2.39 44% 4 185
Nature Camp
Division
CAGR 122% 95%
13
Source: Annual Report Ecotour Odisha (2019-20) Dangamal 59.72 40% 25 2,803
3
Rajnagar Bhitarkanika Gupti 6 6.07 26% 7 306
The nature camps were constructed as part of the Ecotour Odisha scheme. Currently spread across 47 sites Wildlife Nature 2.88 2,110
Division Camps Habilikhati 4 9.19 20% 7 445
(42+5) it is a livelihood source for many forest dependent households. The nature camps were presently
operational in 16 of the 30 districts. 19
Sub Total 74.98 35% 39 3,554
7
Baghamunda 5 7.75 92% 8 403
Chhotkei 10 25.44 31% 15 1,286
Purunakote 2 1.51 -10% 6 76
Satkosia Satkosia
Wildlife Nature Tarava 10 3.36 -2% 10 1.70 197 1,822
Division Camps
Tikarpada 10 24.66 22% 20 1,481
Baliput 0 -100% 0 0
Sub Total 37 62.72 25% 59 3,443
Hirakud Debrigarh
Wildlife nature Sub Total 13 68.52 56% 15 5.27 2,433 2,816
Division Camps
Rajhans 10 11.2 50% 11 347
Chilika Chilika Manglajodi 12 15.3 450% 8 500
Wildlife nature
Division Camps Berhampura 8 1.67 -19% 7 57
0.27 832
Sub Total 30 28.17 107% 26 904
Puri Wildlife Nuanai
Sub Total 10 10.89 161% 10 405
Division Nature Camp
Rissia nature
Balasore Sub Total 9 18.65 61% 14 976
Camp
Wildlife 2.34 1,867
Division Bichitrapur
Sub Total 4 11.75 222% 20 652
nature camp
Mandasaru
7 21.83 164% 22 1,260
valley
Phulbani Phulbani 15
Forest Nature Phulbani 5 3.42 121% 186
37
Location of Ecotour Nature Camps (Red-existing & Green-upcoming) Division Camps
5
Source: Ecotourodisha.com Sub Total 25.25 184% 74 3.18 1,446 2,215
7
Belghar
Baliguda Sub Total 5 3.29 29% 13 153
Nature Camp
Forest
Division Daringbadi
Sub Total 10 57.33 99% 15 2,278
nature Camp
Bonai Forest Khandadhar
Sub Total 10 24.96 238% 15 1.94 1,400 1,732
Division Bature Camp

Roadmap for Development of Ecotourism Sector in Odisha Page 88 Roadmap for Development of Ecotourism Sector in Odisha Page 89
Forest Nature Rev. ETG Revenue/ Visits Revenue/
Division Destination Camps Rooms FY 19-20 CAGR member Room 2019-20 Per Capita
Sundergarh
Sarafgarh
Forest Sub Total 8 9.96 173% 33 616
nature Camp
Division
Deras 8 9.12 42% 425
Chandaka Chandaka
Wildlife Nature Godibari 8 4.16 31% 46 176
Division Camps
Sub Total 16 13.28 92% 46 0.80 601 2,176
Khorda
Barber Nature
Forest Sub Total 3 1.95 3 99
Camp
Division
Keonjhar
Sanaghagara
Forest Sub Total 6 9.01 180% 15 1.50 830 1,086
nature Camp
Division
Giant Squirrel
Kaliamba 3 1.8 17% 0 94
Nature Camp
Saluapalli 5 1.1 45% 8 91
Bhanjanagar
Ghumsur 4 1.43 -11% 8 65
Dam
Forest 0.52 2,575
Division Blackbuck 1
Nature Camp Chermaria 0.6 42% 4 30
1
13
Sub Total 4.93 105% 20 280
1
Athgarh
Ansupa
Forest Sub Total 5 5.1 49% 20 168
Nature Camp
Division
0.83 2,003
Cuttack
Mahavinayak
Forest Sub Total 3 1.55 22% 6 164
Nature Camp
Division
Cuttack
Olasuni
Forest Sub Total 3 0.13 -2% 6 0.04 14 929
Nature Camp
Division
Spatial distribution of Ecotour Nature camps
Dhenkanal
Saptasajya Source: Annual Report Ecotour Odisha (2019-20)
Forest Sub Total 2 1.38 32% 6 0.69 67 2,060
Nature Camp
Division
Malkangiri Chitrakonda Sub Total 4 0 0 4 4 About 600 local community members manage more than 300 rooms at ecotourism destinations all over the
Forest 0.00 0.00 state, majority of them being rural women and tribal. Gradually a greater number of community members are
Division Satiguda Sub Total 4 0 0 4 4
getting enrolled in ecotourism activities. ecotourism has been an alternative income for them as they earlier
used to rely on forest for their survival by poaching, smuggling, fishing, collecting honey, firewood, etc.
As total revenue earned from nature camps were INR 6.85 Cr in 2019-20. The DD Simlipal North Division
indirectly, 5 to 6 villages per ecotourism project are now earning their livelihood by providing daily
(Mayurbhanj) contributed to about one-sixth of the total share. Average Revenue earned per Room Key were
requirements to the ecotourism projects (i.e. by selling vegetables, handmade articles, different food items,
estimated to Rs. 2.13 Lakh in 2019-20 for the camps.
milk, non-veg products, travel facilities etc).
Best performing nature camps wherein, the revenue per room key is more than the average is listed below
(n INR Lakh) and could be ideal choice for augmenting luxury services.
1. Debrigarh (5.27)
2. Satkosia (4.83)
3. Daringbadi (3.18)
4. Bhitarkanika (2.88)
5. Balasore (2.34)
6. Simlipal (2.19)

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 Destinations Analysis

The tourist footfall intensity in the study areas were analysed in various layers such as District-level,
Destinations-level, Ecotour nature camps

Share of
visits to
Visits Visits natural Overnight
District (Lakh) Natural Landscapes (Lakh) landscapes Destinations Tourists
A B C D E=D/B % F G
Devkund; Bhimkund;
Mayurbhanj 17.4 6.9 40% Simlipal 5,309
Suleipat; Bangiriposi..
Kuanria; Kuturi; Satkosia
Nayagarh 19.1 3.1 16% 4,992
Baramul Sands Resort
Bhitarkanika;
Kendrapada 9.8 1.3 13% Bhitarkanika 3,554
Kudanagari; Sakhibata
Khuludi; Rengali;
Angul 10.5 4.2 40% Satkosia 3,443
Tikarpura; Bulajhar
Hirakud; Gudguda;
Sambalpur 16.1 4.9 31% Debrigarh 2,433
Ushakoti
Satpada,
1,808
Puri 28.9 Chilika (Satpada) 2.5 1% Mangalajodi
Nuanai 405

Daingbadi; Putudi; Mandasaru 1,260

Kandhamal 4.7 1.7 35%
Presence of ETGs
Belghar Daringbadi 2,278
Source: Odisha Tourism statistical Bulletin 2019 Khandaadhar; Mandira
Sundergarh 32.4 8.4 26% Sarafgarh 2,016
Dam; Darjeeing..
It is observed that communities in Kandhamal (102) and Mayurbhanj (81) districts have been benefitted
mostly from the nature camps. (local community members). All the community members have been trained Nandankanan; Barkul;
Khordha 94.3 32.2 35% Chandaka 700
on hospitality & ecotourism services for proper management of the destinations and they play different roles Mundiapada
in management of nature camps i.e., housekeeping, accounting, store, reception, service, cooking, cleaning Duduma; Bagra; Gulmi;
etc. Koraput 12.4 2.3 19% Kundli/ Desia NIL
Jalaput; Kechla..
Chatikana; Devagiri;
Rayagada 9.3 5.3 57% Chatikana NIL
Minajhola; Niyamgir
Total 254.9 72.8 29% 28,198

The analysis reveals the following:

► Only about a third of total visitations in the respective districts were observed towards natural landscapes:
districts of Mayurbhanj and Kendrapada had higher shares.
► Less than 1% of tourists visiting these natural landscapes preferred to stay at Ecotour properties:
destinations of Satkosia and Bhitarkanika
► Presence of alternate accommodation option could be reason behind low intake for Ecotour nature camps
even at destinations known for overnight tourism

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Footfall at nature camps at selected districts (in lakhs) Revenue from nature camps at selected districts (in lakhs)

Inference - Nature camps in proximity to destination known for mass tourism, make comparatively
lesser revenues. Also, destinations such as Simlipal, Satkosia earn higher revenue with moderate
visits.

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Infrastructure

The infrastructure development of the priority destinations was assessed mainly based on connectivity.
Proximity from major airports, railway stations and bus terminals towards these destinations were studied.

Its observed that volume of visits & revenue from the nature camps were inversely proportional to the distance
from key transit hubs. Hence it inferred that proximity to such hubs is crucial for the development of ecotourism
destinations. Proximity of Bus terminal is presently insignificant as it is one of the less travelled mode by
ecotourists.

Proximity to major transit hubs

Dist. from
Dist. from nearest Dist. from
nearest Railway nearest Bus
Sl No District Destination Airport (Km) Station (Km) Terminal (Km)
1 Mayurbhanj Simlipal 275 107 16
2 Nayagarh Satkosia Sands Resort 115 100 5
3 Kendrapada Bhitarkanika 155 85 20
4 Angul Satkosia 170 60 31
5 Sambalpur Debrigarh 95 26 37
6 Satpada, Mangalajodi 70 15 15
Puri
7 Nuanai 62 10 10
8 Mandasaru 250 150 8
Kandhamal
9 Daringbadi 300 90 15
10 Sundergarh Sarafgarh 53 37 30
11 Khordha Chandaka 22 25 7
Heatmap on ease of connectivity
12 Koraput Kundli/ Desia 207 10 10
13 Rayagada Chatikana 195 0 10

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District-wise footfall vis-a-vis connectivity District-wise footfall vis-a-vis revenue from nature camps

Inference- Inference-

► The proximity to a connectivity node/ roads is directly proportional to volume of visits ► The proximity to a connectivity node/ roads is directly proportional to revenue earned from nature camps
► Simlipal has a higher footfall despite lesser proximity to a connectivity node/ roads likely on account of ► The popularity of a destination is a key factor in influencing the Revenue earned rather than ease of
► the popularity of National Park connectivity.
► Proximity to Kolkata ► Districts, Mayurbhanj (higher revenue) and Sundargarh (lower revenue)
► Self-driving customers ► Higher availability of private accommodation in districts such as Puri and Khorda also outweigh the typical
positive relation of proximity with connectivity nodes and revenue earned

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 Inference - Though ecotour properties are yet to be developed in Koraput and Rayagada, these regions have presently good presence of private providers.
Competitors

Page 101
Accommodation units

The presence of accommodation units was assessed in terms of footprint of the room keys in the study area
at:
► District-level
► Destinations-level

Rooms in Private Rooms in Ecotour

District Hotels Priority Destinations Nature Camps
Mayurbhanj 927 Simlipal 52
Nayagarh 210 Satkosia 19
Kendrapada 159 Bhitarkanika 26
Angul 1132 Satkosia 37
Sambalpur 1245 Debrigarh 13
Satpada, Mangalajodi* 30

Roadmap for Development of Ecotourism Sector in Odisha

Puri 12,699
Nuanai 10
Mandasaru 12
Kandhamal 365
Daringbadi 15
Sundergarh 2,185 Sarafgarh 18
Khordha 6,828 Chandaka 16
Koraput 1,140 NA NIL
Rayagada 917 NA NIL
Total 27,807 248
*Though Mangalajodi is located in Khorda Dist., due to its proximity to Puri it is compared with the tourism resources of Puri Dist.

The analysis reveals the following:

Comparison in distribution of rooms in Private & Ecotour properties

► Major investment in the private sector hospitality is concentrated around the golden triangle belt.

Roadmap for Development of Ecotourism Sector in Odisha Page 100

Visibility with niche online aggregators E. Analysis of Ecotourism Destinations in Odisha
It is observed through our research that, Odisha is weakly represented in experiential tour packages of
The destination wise detailed assessment is provided in the following sections:
popular web feeds in comparison with regions offering similar landscapes and offerings. As per the Bain.&
Co. study (2019), about 80% new age customer’s booking happen through these mediums. In addition to this
Mangalajodi
ecotour properties are only made available for booking through the govt website.

These online aggregators form major source of information for the target market i.e. experiential travellers.
Poor visibility of these offerings and products could arrest future prospects of investments in this sector.
Moreover, the roadmap could evaluate the factors that has contributed in better visibility of the products of
Kerala and Karnataka.

Leading Tourism Experience Packages (March-2021)

aggregators Karnataka Kerala Sri Lanka Cambodia Odisha
Sl No Location Parameter Description
Viator 111 820 5,414 2,556 30
1 District Khorda
Airbnb Experiences 25 22 140 114 0
Tour-radar 18 103 118 299 14 2 Forest Division Chilika Wildlife Division

Thrillophilia 15 82 63 13 3 3 Ecotour Nature Camps (1) Mangalajodi: AC-12 rooms

► Mangalajodi: Bird sighting
4 Key attractions
► Chilika lake: Boating
5 Site visit 13th Jan 2020

Actions Plans

Seg A Seg B Seg C

30% 40% 30%

Sl. Action Points

No Challenges Short Term (0-2 Yr) Mid Term (2-5 Yr) Long Term (5+ Yr)
Lack of ancillary
Introducing Village visit, Maintaining judicious
tourism experiential Extend the tourism
Stargazing, Fish Farming, balance of 'birding'
1 activities to activities to:
DIY souvenir activities & and 'mass-tourist'
engage/involve ► Bhusandpur
Explore Dhani forest destination
tourists
Setting up the birds
Presence of experiential tourism packages (business operation) of Odisha wrt other states in India
Interpretation Centre /
Recruitment of community
managed by bird
people (50%) to run the
naturalists – (each tourist Raising and
Interpretation Centre
Lack of Tourism explained about birds maintaining the
2 Capacity building
infrastructure before embarking on the seamless tourist
community into
trip) experience quality
storytelling, guiding,
Training community into
naturalist training,
tourism servicing &
naturalists

Community Community to manage Full-fledged

Recruitment of community
involvement in Interpretation centre community owned,
3 people (50%) to run the
operation of the Nature camp managed and driven
nature camps
assets Tourism experiences destination having

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Seg A Seg B Seg C Nuanai
30% 40% 30%

Sl. Action Points

No Challenges Short Term (0-2 Yr) Mid Term (2-5 Yr) Long Term (5+ Yr)
Collaborate with nature- ‘Homestay
based tour operators; Certification’
Need for standards
promotion and
4 at accommodation Homestay Certification
incentivisation for
units Sl No Location Parameter Description
Homestays following
standards 1 District Puri
Largest & immediate challenge; getting community to form an EDC and a destination management 2 Forest Division Puri Wildlife Division
unit with the forest dept- taking charge of managing tourism in a cohesive manner for benefit of the
3 Ecotour Nature Camps (1) Nuanai: AC-10 rooms
destination and community
4 Key attractions Creek and private beach access
5 Site visit 14th Jan 2021

Action Plan

Seg A Seg B Seg C

0% 10% 90%

Sl. Action Points

No Challenges Short Term (0-2 Yr) Mid Term (2-5 Yr) Long Term (5+ Yr)
Lack of ancillary More ancillary
Developing Nuanai as a
tourism experiential activities
day/single night Quality experiences of an
experiential such as a walk through
1 destination basis USP of easy level for leisure
activities to the forest
its location and water tourists
engage/involve Beach visit, especially for
sports potential
tourists guest staying overnight
Private sector to be
Hospitality, tourism and Marketing the destination
Lack of Tourism involved in creating
naturalist training to local for providing a water
2 infrastructure to quality water
community members jungle and soft adventure
engage tourists sports/tourism/hospitality
from surrounding villages experience
infrastructure
Community to manage
Community Tourism experiences Engaging local Fully functional co-
involvement in Nature camp & some community in creating an operative or community
3
operation of the experiences to be appropriate benefit fund that benefits larger
assets managed by Private sharing mechanism community
sector

Service standards will get

Capacity building,
Introduction of more segment B tourists Maintaining the seamless
4 Monitoring & evaluation
service standards & satisfied segment C tourist experience quality
of services
tourists

Largest & immediate challenge; getting the destination going- with involvement of private sector to benefit
from the already existing market that comes to the area.

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Chandaka Seg A Seg B Seg C
20% 40% 35%

Sl. Action Points

No Challenges Short Term (0-2 Yr) Mid Term (2-5 Yr) Long Term (5+ Yr)
Service standards will get
Capacity building, Maintaining the
Introduction of service more segment B tourists &
4 Monitoring & evaluation seamless tourist
standards satisfied segment C
of services experience quality
tourists
Sl No Location Parameter Description
Adapting innovative promotional measures to market Chandaka for ‘leisure’ and ‘wild lifers’ & Enabling
1 District Khorda citizen, public and private partnership frameworks across thematic verticals. Enabling urban policy which
2 Forest Division Chandaka Wildlife Division conserves, protects the natural habitat and come-up with befitting urbanisation policy

► Deras: AC-08 rooms

3 Ecotour Nature Camps (2)
► Godibari: AC-08 rooms
► Bharatpur Safari
4 Key attractions
► Sighting- Elephants, Birds
5 Site visit ► 15th Jan 2021

Action Plan

Seg A Seg B Seg C

20% 40% 35%

Sl. Action Points

No Challenges Short Term (0-2 Yr) Mid Term (2-5 Yr) Long Term (5+ Yr)
Lack of ancillary Brand with Bhubaneswar Introduction of activities Revival of key
tourism experiential Tourism. such as to convert day wildlife species such
activities to Offer extended safari slots tourists as stay-tourists as leopard, sambar,
engage/involve that start before sunrise Tree house, nature Indian Gaur, as part
1 tourists and end by sunset trails, of the 'Greater
Isolated habitat; ► bushwalking, night Satkosia landscape'.
Haven’t tapped natural safaris, night walk,
offerings of the
destination optimally
Lack of Tourism Better Tourism Capacity building for
infrastructure to experiences infrastructure Sustainable Tourism
engage tourists to be created Zero Waste Discharge
Introduction of
Provision of stringent Prone to pollution because Enabling suitable
2 destination
pollution control of nearness to the city, amendments to the
standards
measures due to functional solid and liquid Master Plan to restrict
popular tourism from waste management the residential
the tourists system to be created developments.
Fully functional co-
Community to manage Engaging local
Community operative or
Tourism experiences community in creating
3 involvement in Nature camp & some community fund that
an appropriate benefit
operation of the assets experiences benefits larger
sharing mechanism
community

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Satkosia Seg A Seg B Seg C
30% 30% 40%
Action Points
Sl. No Challenges Short Term (0-2 Yr) Mid Term (2-5 Yr) Long Term (5+ Yr)
Community to manage
Capacity building in
tourism experiences,
undertaking Tourism
Community nature camps and all Fully functional co-
activities
Involvement in ancillary activities operative or community
Sl No Location Parameter Description 3 Engaging local
operation of Partnering private sector fund that benefits larger
community in creating an
1 District Angul & Nayagarh assets in creating infrastructure, community
appropriate benefit
2 Forest Division Mahanadi & Satkosia Wildlife Divisions experiences and capacity
sharing mechanism
building
► Satkosia Sands Resort
Baghamunda Introduction of Tourism
► Introduction of Capacity building,
Chhotkei Service standards in both Maintaining the seamless
► 4 service monitoring & evaluation of
3 Ecotour Nature Camps (7) Purunakote accommodation and tourist experience quality
► standards services
► Tarava Tourism activities
► Tikarpada Largest & immediate task is to handhold community & the Private sector to increase the quality of the total
► Baliput tourism experience of the destination
4 Key attractions ► Gorge
5 Site Visit 16 Jan 2021
th

Action Plan

Seg A Seg B Seg C

30% 30% 40%
Action Points
Sl. No Challenges Short Term (0-2 Yr) Mid Term (2-5 Yr) Long Term (5+ Yr)
Creating curated
Lack of
Introduction of 1) Machan experiences for
ancillary
Sitting, 2) Nature-Trail, segregated tourists as per Sustenance &
tourism
Bushwalking, 3) their interest areas maintenance plan of the
1 experiential
Stargazing etc.- ► Segregation of wild ecological offerings of the
activities to
experiencing the forested lifers/birders/conserv destination
engage/involve
area ationists from leisure
tourists
tourists
Tourist segregation,
zoning, Tourism Capacity building &
experiences infrastructure for all tourist
infrastructure to be segments with private
Lack of tourism
created sector & community Implementation of
infrastructure
2 Create network of all- Training and upskilling of destination standards &
to engage
weather access roads tourism services monitoring mechanism
tourists
between the nature- Capacity building for
camps Sustainable Tourism;
Destination Service Zero Waste Discharge
Standards

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Debrigarh Sarafgarh

Sl No Location Parameter Description Sl No Location Parameter Description

1 District Bargarh/ parts of Sambalpur 1 District Sundergarh
2 Forest Division Hirakud Wildlife Division 2 Forest Division Sundergarh Forest Division
3 Ecotour Nature Camps (1) Debrigarh: AC-13 rooms 3 Ecotour Nature Camps (1) Sarafgarh-AC-08 rooms
► Wildlife sanctuary 4 Key attractions Natural Landscapes, Waterfalls
► Hirakud reservoir: boating 5 Site visit 29th Jan 2021
4 Key attractions
► Wild sighting: Indian Gaur (bison) and Four-
horned Antelope (Chousingha)
Actions Plans
5 Site Visit 17th of January 2021
Seg A Seg B Seg C
Action Plan 20% 50% 30%

Seg A Seg B Seg C Sl. Action Points

30% 30% 40% No Challenges Short Term (0-2 Yr) Mid Term (2-5 Yr) Long Term (5+ Yr)

Action Points Introduction of more

Lack of ancillary Diversifying boating
ancillary activities such
Sl. No Challenges Short Term (0-2 Yr) Mid Term (2-5 Yr) Long Term (5+ Yr) tourism experiential activity with introduction of Quality experiences
as canopy walk, rope
1 activities to kayaks and more paddle of an easy level for
Introduction of ancillary course on the tree,
engage/involve boats, birdwatching, leisure tourists
activities such as siting on having new cycling
Lack of ancillary tourists nature trail, Zipline etc.
machan, nature trail, routes etc.
tourism bushwalking etc.; Exploring more ancillary
Preservation and
experiential Extension of Jeep-safaris activities, niche Private sector to be Hospitality, tourism and Marketing the
1 sustenance of the
activities to with different entry and exit strategies for changing Lack of tourism involved in creating quality naturalist training to local destination for
natural offerings
engage/involve routes visitors’ mindset 2 infrastructure to water community members providing a soft
tourists Zoning of the Tourism area engage tourists sports/tourism/hospitality from surrounding adventure
Better promotion and
infrastructure villages experience
destination standards
Capacity building for Community to manage Fully functional co-
Engaging local
Lack of tourism experiential Community tourism experience, operative or
Having network of all- community in creating
2 infrastructure to infrastructure 3 Involvement in Nature camps & water community fund that
weather roads an appropriate benefit
engage tourists Sustainable Tourism; operation of assets sports experiences to be benefits larger
sharing mechanism
Zero Waste Discharge managed by private sector community
Implementation of 'Poachers Fully functional co-
Community Engaging local Service standards will get
turned protectors' model, operative or Capacity building, Maintaining the
Involvement in community in creating Introduction of service more segment B &
3 Community to manage community fund that 4 monitoring & evaluation seamless tourist
operation of an appropriate benefit standards satisfied segment C
tourism experiences, nature benefits larger of services experience quality
assets sharing mechanism tourists
camps and activities community
Capacity building, Maintaining the Sarafgarh has the potential of becoming a favourite destination catering to day visitors or weekend visitors
Introduction of looking for an easy, comfortable outing
4 monitoring & evaluation seamless tourist
service standards
of services experience quality
Safari to be augmented by other Tourism experiential activities to increase customer satisfaction and stay

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Satpada Seg A Seg B Seg C
20% 50% 30%

Sl. Action Points

No Challenges Short Term (0-2 Yr) Mid Term (2-5 Yr) Long Term (5+ Yr)
Largest & immediate challenge; getting community to form an EDC and a destination Management unit with
the forest dept- taking charge of managing tourism in a cohesive manner for benefit of the destination and
community

Sl No Location Parameter Description

1 District Puri
2 Forest Division Puri Wildlife Division
Rajhans: AC-10 rooms
3 Ecotour Nature Camps (2)
Berhampura-Ac-08 rooms
4 Key attractions Irrawaddy dolphins, Chilika lake
5 Site visit 14th Jan 2021

Actions Plans

Seg A Seg B Seg C

20% 50% 30%

Sl. Action Points

No Challenges Short Term (0-2 Yr) Mid Term (2-5 Yr) Long Term (5+ Yr)
Develop high quality dolphin
More ancillary
Lack of ancillary tours following international
experiential activities
tourism standards Best quality experiences
such as- a day with
experiential ► Training of the boatmen of rare iconic fauna
1 Fishermen,
activities to & naturalists for present at the
► Village & Beach visit,
engage/involve dolphin& birding tours destination
especially for guest
tourists Packaging & promoting
staying overnight
tours
Formation of EDC to help
conflict resolution& create Hospitality & tourism
Lack of Tourism better tourism training, Naturalist, Marketing the
2 infrastructure to infrastructure, Hospitality & Dolphin interpretation destination for its 'Slow-
engage tourists tourism training, Naturalist, training & capacity Living'
Dolphin interpretation building
training & capacity building
Community to manage
Interpretation centre
Community Engaging local
Tourism experiences ex Fully functional co-
involvement in community in creating an
3 Satpada operative or community
operation of the appropriate benefit
Nature camp & some fund
assets sharing mechanism
experiences to be managed
by Private sector
Introduction of Capacity building, Maintaining the
Service standards will get
4 service Monitoring & evaluation seamless tourist
more segment B tourists
standards of services experience quality

Roadmap for Development of Ecotourism Sector in Odisha Page 112 Roadmap for Development of Ecotourism Sector in Odisha Page 113
Bhitarkanika Seg A Seg B Seg C
30% 30% 40%
Action Points
Sl. No Challenges Short Term (0-2 Yr) Mid Term (2-5 Yr) Long Term (5+ Yr)
Introduction of Service standards focussing Capacity building, Maintaining the
4 service segment A & segment-B monitoring & evaluation seamless tourist
standards tourists of services experience quality

Sl No Location Parameter Description Bhitarkanika needs a CC / LAC study as a baseline of a detailed Tourism management Plan in view of its
unique eco-sensitive landscape & biodiversity
1 District Kendrapada
2 Forest Division Rajnagar Wildlife Division
► Dangamal: AC-13 rooms, Non-AC- 03
3 Ecotour Nature Camps (3) ► Gupti: AC-06 rooms
► Habilikhati: Non-AC-04
► Wetlands
4 Key attractions
► Crocodile sighting
5 Site Visit 17th Jan 2021

Action Plan

Seg A Seg B Seg C

30% 30% 40%
Action Points
Sl. No Challenges Short Term (0-2 Yr) Mid Term (2-5 Yr) Long Term (5+ Yr)
Introduction of: 1) visiting local
Lack of tourism village, 2) birdwatching, 3) Increase the mangrove-
Sustenance of the
experiential Stargazing, 4) Extended and cover through
mangrove cover and
1 activities to Regulated Boat Rides 5) mangrove plantation
creeks on which
engage/involve Special experience of key and mangrove
mangroves rely on
tourists species (crocodiles & fishing monitoring activities
cats) etc.
Tourist carrying capacity
segregation,
Better Tourism experiences
infrastructure to be created Zero emission
Lack of tourism pollution from high day tourist
discharge; Introduction of
2 infrastructure to visitation to be managed,
Rejuvenation of destination standards
engage tourists functional solid and liquid waste
management system to be mangrove-cover
created
Better connectivity to nature-
camps
Fully functional co-
Community Engaging local
Community to manage tourism operative or
Involvement in community in creating
3 experiences, nature camps and community fund that
operation of an appropriate benefit
activities benefits larger
assets sharing mechanism
community

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Simlipal Seg A Seg B Seg C
30% 30% 40%

Sl. Action Points

No Challenges Short Term (0-2 Yr) Mid Term (2-5 Yr) Long Term (5+ Yr)
Capacity building of
Community to manage
Community
tourism activities Appropriate and adequate Fully functional co-
Involvement in
3 experiences, nature camps benefit sharing mechanism operative or
Sl No Location Parameter Description operation of
and interpretation with the community community fund that
assets
1 District Mayurbhanj Partnership with Private Community engagement benefits larger
2 Forest Division DD Simlipal North Division sector an integral part into all aspects of tourism community

Barehipani: Non-AC-08 rooms Service standards will get Capacity building, Maintaining the
► Introduction of
Jamuani- Non-AC-14 rooms 4 more segment A & monitoring & evaluation of seamless tourist
► service standards
3 Ecotour Nature Camps (5) ► Kumari- Non-AC- 14 rooms segment-B tourists services experience quality
► Gurguria- Non-AC- 06 rooms Largest & immediate challenge is to create a tourism management Plan that considers various tourist
► Ramatirtha- Non-AC- 06 rooms segments, USP of the destination and servicing the tourist to experience Similipal as per the destination
► Wildlife sanctuary service standards
► Hirakud reservoir: boating
4 Key attractions
► Wild sighting: Indian Gaur (bison) and Four-
horned Antelope (Chousingha)
5 Site Visit 17th Jan 2021

Action Plan

Seg A Seg B Seg C

30% 30% 40%

Sl. Action Points

No Challenges Short Term (0-2 Yr) Mid Term (2-5 Yr) Long Term (5+ Yr)
Lack of ancillary Introduction of DIY and Sustaining judicious
tourism local activities, tourism balance of
experiential experiences such as nature ► Zoning and phasing in maintaining a 'fragile
1
activities to trails, walking tours, the core areas ecosystem' and
engage/involve identifying flora & fauna & catering the 'mass-
tourists many others tourist'
Tourist segregation,
Capacity building &
zoning, Better Tourism
infrastructure for all tourist
experiences infrastructure
segments with private
to be created
sector & community Segregation,
Prone to pollution high day
Training and upskilling of sustenance and
Lack of tourism tourist visitation, functional
tourism services maintenance of
2 infrastructure to solid and liquid waste
Capacity building for distinct tourist profiles
engage tourists management system to be
Sustainable Tourism; Zero Introduction of
created
Waste Discharge; Enabling destination standards
All weather access roads
suitable amendments to the
between the nature-camps
Master Plan to restrict the
& tourist spots inside the
residential developments
forest;

Roadmap for Development of Ecotourism Sector in Odisha Page 116 Roadmap for Development of Ecotourism Sector in Odisha Page 117
Daringbadi Seg A Seg B Seg C
30% 20% 50%
Action Points
Sl. No Challenges Short Term (0-2 Yr) Mid Term (2-5 Yr) Long Term (5+ Yr)
Engage local community Fully functional co-
in creating an appropriate operative/SHG or
Formation of EDC; Training
benefit sharing community fund;
and capacity building of
mechanism; Employment Local staff creating
Sl No Location Parameter Description Introduction of local youth and community
4 of trained local staff; experiential tourism
service standards as guides; Promotion of
1 District Kandhamal Engage local community value chain;
local craft, cuisine and
2 Forest Division Baliguda Forest Division in creating an appropriate Homestay
architecture
benefit sharing certification, Product
3 Ecotour Nature Camps (1) Daringbadi: Non-AC-10 rooms mechanism certification etc.
4 Key attractions Hill Station Forest & Tourism Dept to understand Daringbadi as a unique, one of its kind destinations appealing to all
5 Site Visit 28th Jan 2021 customer segments- the only hill station in Odisha- inculcate destination pride and promote it to all customer
segments in a predominant media exercise
Action Plan

Seg A Seg B Seg C

30% 20% 50%
Action Points
Sl. No Challenges Short Term (0-2 Yr) Mid Term (2-5 Yr) Long Term (5+ Yr)
Inculcating pride in the
Lack of ancillary destination through
The only hill station in the
tourism media campaigns
state, Introduction of nature Continue the idea of
experiential Identification of Dos and
1 trails, walking trails- the clean, green, zero
activities to Don’ts for all visitors and
idea of a green/ clean/zero waste destination
engage/involve residents(?). Appropriate
waste hill station
tourists promotion and marketing
of the destination
Tourism infrastructure:
both hardware as well as
capacity building of the Capacity Building of
service providers needs to locals, Focus on great
Lack of Tourism
2 be undertaken Marketing as state's top experience for all
infrastructure
Collaboration with private biodiversity destination tourists
tour operators, nature- based on its USP
based/adventurous/wildlife
tour operators
Augment existing
accommodation, transport
and service infrastructure;
Community Having all-weather roads
Provision of adequate Maintaining the
involvement in with appropriate
3 electricity & water supply seamless tourist
operation of the signages at all the nature
Involvement of both, the experience quality
assets camps
community & the private
sector in servicing all tourist
segments

Roadmap for Development of Ecotourism Sector in Odisha Page 118 Roadmap for Development of Ecotourism Sector in Odisha Page 119
Mandasaru Seg A Seg B Seg C
30% 40% 30%
Action Points
Sl. No Challenges Short Term (0-2 Yr) Mid Term (2-5 Yr) Long Term (5+ Yr)
Discourage communities
use of firearms; Employing
Employment of trained
‘poachers turned
local staff; Community Voluntary forestry
conservator’ strategiesas
Sl No Location Parameter Description Introduction of managed, preserved certification;
4 local guides, development
service standards forest; Identify the Homestay
1 District Kandhamal of homestay etc.;
potential and promotion certification
2 Forest Division Phulbani Forest Division Promotion of souvenirs
of 'Homestay'
from local crafts made by
3 Ecotour Nature Camps (1) Mandasaru: Non-AC-07 rooms local community
► Gorge EDC as a key protagonist in forest and biodiversity conservation, Training and capacity building of
4 Key attractions
► Hill Station communities
5 Site Visit 30th Jan 2021

Action Plan

Seg A Seg B Seg C

30% 40% 30%
Action Points
Sl. No Challenges Short Term (0-2 Yr) Mid Term (2-5 Yr) Long Term (5+ Yr)
Need for diversifying
ecotourism product offering
Lack of ancillary
Identification and
tourism Identify and deliver Sustenance and
introduction of forest-
experiential biodiversity and maintenance of the
1 appreciation, forest trails;
activities to adventure-tourism forest and
Introduction of more
engage/involve packages biodiversity
activities like ‘making one’s
tourists
own Siali leaf plate and
bowl.
Further capacity building
Community capacity
Lack of Tourism & handholding the
building and training to introduction of more
infrastructure community into tourism &
offer tourism services activities asper the
2 Need for solid ancillary services
Functional solid and liquid tourist segment
waste Zero emission discharge;
waste management visiting
management Ban on Single Plastic
system
usage
Community to manage
Interpretation centre
Community Engaging local
Tourism experiences ex Fully functional co-
involvement in community in creating an
3 Satpada operative or
operation of the appropriate benefit
Nature camp & some community fund
assets sharing mechanism
experiences to be
managed by Private sector

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Koraput-Rayagada Seg A Seg B Seg C
20% 30% 50%
Action Points
Sl. No Challenges Short Term (0-2 Yr) Mid Term (2-5 Yr) Long Term (5+ Yr)
Very important to set
imperative for the
destination level service
Introduction of tourism service providers Scaling up
4 standards and Do’s &
service standards of the area to follow implementation
Don’ts for the highly fragile
Sl No Location Parameter Description standards
USP
1 District Koraput & Rayagada Largest & immediate challenge; Forming a Destination Management unit with the forest & tribal dept- setting
2 Forest Division Koraput & Rayagada Forest Divisions expectations & setting destination level tourism service standards for all activities
3 Ecotour Nature Camps (0) Nil
► Tribal markets
4 Key attractions
► Natural landscapes and coffee plantations
5 Site Visit 9th – 12th Feb 2021

Action Plan

Seg A Seg B Seg C

20% 30% 50%
Action Points
Sl. No Challenges Short Term (0-2 Yr) Mid Term (2-5 Yr) Long Term (5+ Yr)
Enabling policies
Potential for an Ecotour property securing rights of the
Lack of ancillary
Develop high quality indigenous people and
tourism
nature/adventure and culture;
experiential Nuanced marketing
1 indigenous people MoU with the neighboring
activities to of the destination
familiarization tours states such as AP and
engage/involve
following international Chhattisgarh for
tourists
standards 'Extended Indigenous
People Experience’
Augmentation of access
routes/roadside amenities Regulate access as
within the destination Sustaining and per carrying capacity
Lack of Tourism
2 Curating of the USPs of the improvising destination for the sustenance of
infrastructure
destination into quality access infrastructure the natural and
offerings as per the tourist cultural offering
segments
Potential to involve indigenous
Pilot of the curated
Community community into non-intrusive,
indigenous community
involvement in
respectful tourism
3 tourism offering Scaling-up of the pilot
operation of the Potential to curate nature
Monitoring and
assets tourism for interested
evaluation
tourism segment

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F. Institutional Frameworks in Ecotourism Madhya Pradesh Ecotourism Development Board (MPEDB)

Kerala Responsible Tourism Mission Madhya Pradesh Ecotourism Development Board is an autonomous organization in the Forest Department
of the Government of Madhya Pradesh. The Board was constituted in July 2005 for the promotion and
Kerala initiated Responsible Tourism in February 2007 with the State level consultative meeting titled ‘Better development of ecotourism as a mainstream program of the Forest Department. The Board acts as a centre
Together’. The activities of the Responsible Tourism were implemented in a phased manner in the State. As of coordination between the Madhya Pradesh Tourism, the Forest Department and other stakeholders, for
a pilot phase, Responsible Tourism (RT) was implemented in four destinations viz. Kovalam, Kumarakom, generating synergies between them. Within this larger mandate, the Board will focus on the achievement of
Thekkady and Vythiri between 2008 and 2010 in which Kumarakom was developed as a successful model. certain objectives such as development of infrastructure; development and enforcement of standards/norms
Thus, RT became a milestone in the tourism sector of the State in its first phase itself. The first phase was of service; review and development of policies and laws; ensuring participation of and benefits to all
launched on March 14, 2008. With the success of first phase, second phase had three more pilots along with stakeholders, especially the rural communities and capacity building support for stakeholders. The
the four destinations from the first phase. With the success of both the phases the government of Kerala
organisational structure of the board is mentioned below.
launched the Responsible Tourism Mission on 20th October 2017.

Making tourism a tool for the development of village and local communities, poverty alleviation and women Minister of Forest
empowerment are the main aims of the Responsible Tourism Mission. RT Mission is the nodal agency for (President)
implementing Responsible Tourism all over Kerala. RT Mission, Kerala is involved in taking the principle of
RT to the entire field of tourism activities and motivating the tourism service providers to take up the RT
principles in their businesses.
PCCF
Institutionally, RT Mission is the nodal agency under the aegis of the Department of Tourism, Kerala. The
organisational structure of the mission is shown below.

Destination Level
Minister of Secretary, Kerala Director, Kerala State RT Mission Responsible CEO
Tourism Tourism Tourism Co-ordinator Tourism
Committees

Institutional Framework of RT Mission, Kerala 4-Full-time Accounting

AGM
Directors Consultant
Box elucidates the case study of Kumarakom, one of the most successful pilot destinations in the first phase.

Case Study of Kumarakom, RT Mission, Kerala Assistant

Manager Accountant
Programmer
The case of Kumarakom has been the one of most successful of the four locations in which the pilot project
was implemented. An agricultural calendar in response to timeliness of demand of food produce by hotels
was prepared by the local responsible tourism cell (RT cell). Kudumbashree units of 5 members were then
constituted for the cultivation of food produces chosen. 180 such groups involving 900 women were formed Computer Assistant Project Administrative
Forest Guard Stenographer
Operator Officer Staff
with land for cultivation earmarked and fertilizers and seeds supplied by the local government. Fallow land
for cultivation was identified through a combination of household and physical reconnaissance survey. This
resulted in paddy cultivation in 55 acres and vegetable cultivation in 30 acres of land. Further, 612 Institutional Framework of M.P Ecotourism Development Board
homestead farmers were motivated to take up vegetable cultivation. Organic farming practices were
encouraged. The resource mapping exercise also identified 26 un-used ponds, 20 of which were restored
as fish farms and 6 were restored for lotus cultivation. Initially (in 2008) 11 produces from the units were
supplied to the hotels, which in 2010 has grown to 45 produces. It is estimated that around one third of the
population of the village is involved in the production and sale of agricultural produce.
Other initiatives that were started under the responsible tourism initiative is the development of
microenterprises in souvenir units and the formation of art and culture groups by women and children in a
number of traditional art forms. The RT cell also developed calendars of local festivals and celebrations that
could be used for marketing and promotion by industry partners. Other ancillary initiatives include the
development of tour packages of village life and experiences, enhanced environmental protection through
promotion of eco-bags instead of plastic bags, mangrove regeneration and control of backwater pollution.
Energy saving initiatives through the development of local green certification and use of energy efficient
street lighting is under way. Further, a grass root level community generated multifaceted resource mapping
(containing information on different kinds of resources including that of art and culture), and a destination
labour directory has been completed to help with planning.

Roadmap for Development of Ecotourism Sector in Odisha Page 124 Roadmap for Development of Ecotourism Sector in Odisha Page 125
G. Community Benefit Sharing
Tadoba Case study

The Maharashtra Forest Department (MFD) under the aegis of the then Principal Secretary – Forest had
initiated a programme to involve the neighbouring forest communities in Tadoba to benefit from local tourism
thereby become key stakeholders in protecting forests. MFD supported formation of many such Eco-
Development Committees (EDCs) and Village Development Committees (VDCs) forest in the neighbouring
forest villages. These committees were made self-sufficient by officially allowing them to ‘man and collect’ the
gate money from the tourists at the entry points to the forests which was previously collected by the Forest
Department and contributed to the state’s treasury.

The fund thus collected is utilized jointly by the EDCs and the local forest office for local conservation
activities. The forest department also ensured that any work implemented creates employment opportunities
for the local communities and thereby ensure benefits accrued to be shared with them directly. The MFD on
its part, without spending from its pocket, created an additional manpower and instead of resentment, have
forged partnership in conservation. The local communities have been made stakeholders who find an
economic incentive to protect the forests against fires, poaching and destruction. Youth, both boys and girls,
of these communities have been trained for being naturalists and adventure experts. They were also trained
for safety norms and standard operating procedures to ensure accident-free adventure activities.

Recently these communities have started ‘homestays’ to cater to urban tourists allowing them an opportunity
of experiencing ‘back-to-nature’ rural living, while providing the host family an economic incentive. The
homestay owners are undergoing capacity building to make the tourist’s stay comfortable. Needless to
mention, other family-owned enterprises of the village also benefit from the incoming tourists.

Roadmap for Development of Ecotourism Sector in Odisha Page 126

Bhitarkanika