Bhubaneswar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi while answering a question asked by a student of Utkal University here praised Odisha’s tourism potential and advised people to take pride in their tourist places.

On the sidelines of digital launching of Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan (RUSA) projects from Jammu and Kashmir through video conferencing yesterday, the PM was questioned by Utkal University student Ankita Kundu about the ways of promoting Odisha's tourism.

"The first requirement of tourism is to take pride in our tourist places. Unless we pride ourselves on our tourist potential, we cannot fully explore its potential. During my visit to the US, I was shown a 400-year-old landmark in Pennsylvania. In our country, we can boast of thousands of years old landmarks. Homestay is popular throughout the world. We need to promote this in a big way to help our tourism," Modi replied.

Hailing Odisha's tourism, the PM said, "The State's potential in tourism is vast. With its beaches, heritage and monuments like Konark, the State has amazing tourist sites. We have to work for their promotion and also need to focus on cleanliness and use of technology and entrepreneurship in the sector."

The Prime Minister launched Phase-II RUSA projects worth Rs 3,300 crore in the higher education sector in various parts of the country, including Rs 15 crore Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Career Hub at Utkal University and model colleges in six aspirational districts.

Modi answered queries from students across the country after connecting with them digitally. Over one lakh students from various states were digitally connected with Modi while over 2.5 crore others were able to connect with this interaction through social media.