Bhubaneswar, February 24: In a significant step towards positioning Odisha as a premier adventure tourism hub in eastern India, Deputy Chief Minister Pravati Parida on Tuesday launched the ‘Go-Adventure’ portal at Lok Seva Bhavan.

A Memorandum of Understanding (MoUs) with the Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF) and the Aero Club of India (ACI) was also signed on the occassion.

Speaking on the occasion, Parida, who also holds the Tourism portfolio, emphasised safety as the cornerstone of the state’s adventure tourism expansion.

“Through international partnerships and a new focus on spiritual and experience-based travel, the Government plans to modernise the sector and attract fresh investment from young entrepreneurs,” said Parida.

She appreciated the joint efforts of the Tourism, Sports and Home Departments in opening a new chapter in Odisha’s tourism landscape and called upon all departments to work collectively to make Odisha a world-class tourism destination.

Chief Secretary Anu Garg expressed hope that adventure tourism would boost local economies and create large-scale employment opportunities, and called upon stakeholders to adopt the mantra “Think India, Think Odisha.”

Officials said the Go-Adventure portal will simplify registration, verification and licensing procedures for adventure tourism projects.

The State Government also signed an MoU the Indian Mountaineering Foundation to strengthen safety audits and training programmes for land-based adventure activities such as trekking and rock climbing. The partnership with the Aero Club of India will regulate aerial adventure sports like paragliding and paramotoring in line with national aviation safety norms.

To improve ease of doing business, ‘Licence to Operate’ (LTO) and ‘Recognition to Set Up’ (RTS) certificates were issued to domestic operators, and several adventure tourism operators were formally handed licences during the programme.

Former Union Minister and President of Aero Club of India, Rajiv Pratap Rudy attended the programme, Dr. Pawan Gupta from the National Institute of Water Sports (NIWS), Goa, joined the event virtually.