Orissa and Goa have jointly decided to promote tourism potentials of the two states on mutual beneficial basis. The link up will lead to increase tourist inflow to both states, officials claimed. "This will be a win-win situation for both the states. The MoU will help mutual promotion of tourism, showcasing each other's cultural heritage to tourists and felicitating inbound travel into the respective states," said OTDC managing director Manoranjan Patnaik.

As per a report in TOI by Minati Singha, the officials said the annual tourist inflow to the state is around 60 lakhs while that in Goa is much more. "A sizable number of tourists are coming from Goa and vice versa, but most of them are booking through online or other private channels. As a result, the state governments are losing huge revenue. Through this tie up, both the state agencies would facilitate the tourist inflow to both states and also promote different packages," Patnaik added.

Officials from the tourism department said that according to the deal, the states would mutually market their accommodations and tourism packages. Sources said that next in line are Kerala, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka where the state wants to promote wildlife and religious tourism along with beach and heritage tourism.

"Orissa is targeting more foreign tourists through this tie up. People of Orissa mostly interested in the lively sea beach, monuments and night life in Goa, while we have planned to promote our Buddhist circle, temple architecture, tribal tourism, golden triangle and so on," Patnaik added.