Tourism development prospects in NE India: A critical review

PART-II

Priyanku Narayan Baruah

(The writer can be reached at alwayspriyanku@gmail.com)

Caring for it is second nature to us. There are local myths and lores attached to many places; stories that people revere. Visitors to the Northeastern states should be sensitized to this fact and demonstrate equal respect for the environment around. It breaks my heart when I see the Umiam Lake in Shillong littered with the remains of weekend picnic revelry by a tourist party! Also, one must collaborate with the locals in order to make tourism a sustainable and responsible exercise.”

Green Hiker speaks her view as “When you think of opening up one of the planet’s mega biodiversity hotspots to tourism, the key operating principle to bear in mind is that of ‘balance’- a balance that will enable the fulfillment of human needs along with the protection of nature. All our lives: social, cultural and economic are cocooned within the ecological circle, if we are foolish enough to tamper with this outer all encompassing circle, it will be at our own peril. Those inscrutable dark forests and pristine blue rivers, all abounding with life are the wealth of the NE and we cannot ravage it for myopic gains. We have to find a way to keep our natural capital intact and reap dividends from the interest.”

The Government of India is giving sufficient care to the northern region for tourism development. Up to the end of January 2012 rural tourism projects at 183 sites in 29 States/Union Territories were sanctioned by the Ministry of Tourism. 55 of these sites are situated in the north-eastern States. In 2009-10, Ministry of Tourism has also produced a 60 seconds television commercial which was aired on various television channels to promote North East of India in the Domestic Market. A Road show for North Eastern States was also organized in Kolkata in August, 2009 (Annual Report 2011-12, Ministry of Tourism). For the development and promotion of North East Region, 10 per cent of the plan allocation of the Ministry has been earmarked. An amount of Rs 105.00 crore has been earmarked in budget estimation.

A Comparative Study of Tourism Industry in North-Eastern States of India (B.E) 2010-11 for the region.

The financial assistance being given to the north-eastern States includes assistance for development of tourist infrastructure, promotion of fairs/festivals and tourism related events in the region, Information technology related projects, publicity campaigns, market development assistance, human resource development, promotion and marketing, etc (Annual Report 2010-11, Ministry of Tourism). In spite of this the development in the tourism industry in states of the north-eastern region is not the same. The Vision 2020 document released by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2008 for the north-eastern region earmarks infrastructure-led tourism development as one of the primary hopefuls for revenue generation. Although India is touted to be one of the ten top tourist destinations of the world the Northeast plays a negligible role in the overall percentage of tourist arrivals in India, constituting one per cent (Ruhee Neog, 2011). Further, though the North-east states of India are Tribal states in general, the inflows of tourists and the development in the tourism industry are different for each state.

Unfortunately, preservation of rich archaeological heritage has not yet been a priority of the states concerned. Some of the monuments are preserved at the cost of their historic flavour and most of them are at a neglected state, witnessing harsh wounds of time. Cultural products for tourism in the region include the visual and performing arts, crafts, traditional ceremonies and costumes, fairs and festivals, oral literature, life and lifestyle, dietary habit, etc. In terms of all these components the north-eastern region is rich enough with greater spatial diversity. However, gradual intrusion of market economy, even to the interior parts of the region distorts such uniqueness. Adaptation of a “supply-oriented approach” in cultural tourism expansion strategy may go a long way in reevaluating and preserving its unique cultural components with necessary value addition as cultural tourism starts with the commodification of culture.

Naturally the question arises about the poor performance of tourism sector in the north-eastern region of India. Why has the region failed to take the advantage of its regional, national and international linkages developed so far in the tourism front? The slow pace of progress in tourism in this region is the result of a lack of experience in planning, developing and managing the sector. In fact, the perception of planners, policy-makers and common people towards tourism guides the process of a healthy development (Bhattacharya 2005). From industrial point of view, tourism promotion should follow a marketing-oriented approach so that it can stand as a productive sector amidst the competitive tourism market environment.

While visualizing the unprofessional tourism development scenario in South Asian countries, Vaidya (1996) rightly stated that “for tourism industry to flourish and contribute to our national development we should learn to cater to the demands of incoming tourists. The mere existence of the almighty Himalayas, beautiful blue seas with their magnificent beaches, the grand palaces and forts left as heritage by our forefathers, the varied wild life, archaeological heritage of 5000 years civilization is not going to make foreigners with cash in their purse beg to be allowed to enter our country” (Hall and Page 2001). In Northeast India too, for decades, we are advocating for the development of tourism sector very casually without fixing our strategies, goals and priorities and in most cases without any authentic action plan. But, systematic exploitation of touristic potentiality of the region requires a band of trained manpower having better understanding of different facets of the industry. Moreover, there is necessity of critical judgment regarding the local tourism products prior to their marketing so that tourism ventures can sustain in local socio-economic situation and contribute meaningfully to the areas concerned. Unfortunately tourism planners of the northeastern region of India often forget these basic issues and try to visualize the industry in such a way that it emerges, performs and brings fruit to the region and destinations concerned in an isolated manner, irrespective of its local socio-economic, cultural, institutional and environmental contexts.

For the formulation of a sustainable tourism strategy in the north-eastern region, tourism planners may need to concentrate on some key areas like (i) conservation and neo interpretation of natural, archaeological/ historical and cultural tourism products, (ii) seasonality aspects of tourism operation, (iii) enhancement of tourist facilities and services (transportation, accommodation, etc), (iv) public health and safety, (v) promotion of tourism infrastructure, (vi) focus on community involvement, (vii) allocating/ zoning spaces for recreational land use, (viii) extending efforts on need-based tourism education and training, (ix) tourism financing, (x) prioritization of domestic tourism sector and (xi) evolving strategies for better management of the sector.

It is good to see that our Prime Minister Sri Narendra Modi is showing interest in the uplift of tourist Industry of Northeast India. In his words: “The Northeast has its own strength for economic development. The Northeast boasts of huge biodiversity, it can be used as a big base for export of herbal medicines.” He also said, “Youth can be provided employment through value-addition chain. Agro-processing industries can do the face-lift of the Northeast region,” he stressed. “The Northeast has not harnessed its oil & gas reserves,” he added. Modi also touted the Gujarat model of development and emphasized the need to develop industry in the Northeast. “The Northeast is a tourist paradise,” he said. “Manipur can be made the power house of sports,” Modi has often been invoking India’s knowledge tradition as the strength on which India can be a world power. Interestingly, in spite of a hard-line image, he has always invoked the soft power as tool of foreign policy. Tourism as a model of a money earning sector has been a frequent theme in his speeches. His espousal for federated policy makes way for sub-regional economic development in particularly in eastern sector of India. (Concluded)