The tourism potential of the rich Orissa state has won a prestigious award. A travel magazine “Travel + Leisure India and South Asia”, based on their annual reader survey, valued Odisha has the best emerging destination for tourism in the country.

General Manager, Orissa Tourism Development Corporation (OTDC), Manoranjan Pattnaik received the award at an event in New Delhi recently.

“Parameters such as the upward trend in tourist arrivals, both foreign and domestic, infrastructure development, identifying new tourist circuits and dynamic marketing helped us win the award,” said Pattnaik.

Tourism Secretary Ashok Tripathy said the department had drawn national and international attention by mixing tourism with culture. “The award is a very important stimulus for us,” he said.