The potential of North East in India's tourism prospects

North East India, with its vast natural resources, snow-capped Himalayas, tropical forests, shrines of diverse religions, rich traditional values, variety of ethnic tribes and a cauldron of different people and cultures provide a wonderful opportunity for exploratory tourism at its very best. Comprising the states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim, North East India is a ‘paradise unexplored’ and one of the best destinations for Nature-lovers, trekkers, adventurers and wildlife enthusiasts.

North East region is a hub of Nature and ecotourism. The Himalayas, the Naga, Khasi and Garo hills, huge waterfalls, river islands, national parks, hill stations, numerous lakes and reserved forests offer some of the best-known ecotourism locations. The long range of mountains and hills, deep valleys, wildlife parks and inland rivers offer a variety of adventure activities like trekking, camping, wildlife safaris, rock climbing, jeep safaris, water rafting, boat safaris and hot air ballooning. The mighty Brahmaputra and a large number of inland rivers have developed as a favourite destination for river cruise tourism. Tawang Monastery in Arunachal Pradesh and the famous Rumtek Monastery in Sikkim are two important destinations for Buddhist Tourism. 

North East Indian states offer a mixed culture of Hinduism, Christianity, Islam and Buddhism and have a large number of ethnic groups with their own unique tribal culture, folk dances, food and crafts. The festivals of the region like Bihu of Assam, Hornbill of Nagaland, Sangai of Manipur, Kharchi Puja of Tripura, Torgya in Arunachal Pradesh and Shillong Autumn Festival of Meghalaya have become cultural brands of the region. Further, Gangtok, the shimmering hill city of Sikkim; Shillong, the quaint town of Meghalaya; Majuli, the cradle of Assamese culture; Jampui hills in Tripura and the rainfall of Cherrapunji are some more irresistible attractions of the North East.

Endowed with these incredible tourism offerings and everything that a tourist would dream and desire, North East region has tremendous potential that still remains untapped and unexplored. Realising the vast potential of the region in India’s tourism prospects, the Central Government has taken numerous policy initiatives and made development of North East a major priority. It has allocated more than Rs 4 lakh crore since 2014, with a focus on connectivity. 

The Government also aims to connect all the North Eastern states through a network of roads by 2024 and telecom connectivity across the region in next one-and-a-half years. It has lately approved a fresh outlay of Rs 12,882 crore for developing Infrastructure under North East Special Infrastructure Development Scheme (NESIDS) and for the schemes of North Eastern Council. 

The Ministry of Tourism has taken a number of initiatives on all fronts to harness the potential of tourism in the region. These include developing tourism infrastructure through its flagship schemes viz Swadesh Darshan and PRASHAD; organising international tourism marts, an annual event to highlight the tourism potential of the region in domestic and international markets ;rationalising the process of ‘Protected Area Permit’ regime ;building inter-regional people-to-people contact between North East India and ASEAN countries, as part of India’s ‘Act East Policy’ and financial support to North Eastern states for cultural events, publicity, promotion, fairs and festivals.

The Ministry of Civil Aviation has set aside a Rs 500 crore corpus for enhancing inter and intra-northeast connectivity. Under UDAN 4.2, out of 132 routes, 24 routes have been dedicated to the Northeast. Seven new airports have been built in the last few years and two international routes from northeast region to Myanmar and Bangladesh have been announced, as part of the country’s Act East policy.

The huge investments being made by the Union Government in building tourism infrastructure and the new tourism-friendly policies of the North Eastern states will pave the way to facilitate travel and tourism in the North East and the region is poised to witness a surge in tourism in times to come.

The Ministry of Tourism and the state governments must ensure that the current momentum of holistic development of tourism in the region is maintained. There is also an imminent need to promote it aggressively, targetting both, domestic and international travellers. The focus of the Government on increasing inter-regional connectivity with next door nations under its ‘Act East Policy’ is a laudable step that should draw a large number of foreign tourists from South East Asia and East Asia into the region.

AUTHOR BIO: Vinod Zutshi is Former Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Govt of India