Bhubaneswar: The 3rd edition of Odisha Travel Bazaar(OTB) will be held here from October 14 to 20.

The Odisha tourism minister, Jyoti Prakash Panigrahi, told a presser here on Saturday that the Travel Bazaar 2019, organised by the Odisha government’s department of tourism in partnership with FICCI, will be inaugurated by chief minister Naveen Patnaik.

The tourism secretary, Vishal Dev, said that the State will host 26 leading foreign tour operators (FTOs) from across 16 countries, 60 leading domestic tour operators (DTOs) from across 19 cities in India, as well as international airline and travel writer–all of whom will engage in B2B meetings with about 50 tour operators and hoteliers from Odisha who will be participating as sellers to showcase and market the tourism products of Odisha.

Structured Buyer–Seller meets will be facilitated over three days from 0ctober 18 to20 to enable domestic and international collaborations in business opportunities presented by Odisha’s tourism and hospitality landscape.

Around 2400 pre-scheduled B2B meetings will be organized between the Buyers and Sellers at Sellers’ booths in the three days of OTB 2019.

The key highlight of the Summit is its exclusive focus on the business of inbound and domestic tourism.

The co-chairman of FICCI’s national tourism committee, JK Mohanty, said foreign tour operators from Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Russia, South Africa, Spain, Thailand, Netherland, USA, Ukraine and UK have been invited.

“The event will not only promote the tourism potential but also attract investment opportunities for development of tourism infrastructure of the state,” he hoped.

Mohanty said, apart from this, exclusive familiarization (FAM) trips will be organized for the participating FTOs, top of the line inbound tour operators and leading DTOs. The purpose of hosting a FAM tour is to enhance the participants’ destination awareness to enable them to develop and promote diverse tourism products and packages. There are 3 FAM Tours being planned focusing on Odisha’s Buddhist Sites, the Golden Triangle and the Ethnic Tourism Circuit set in the state’s predominantly tribal, central and southern regions.