Tourism hurdles

Assam's tourism sector undoubtedly possesses immense potential. But, historically, it accounts for only about 0.23% of domestic and  0.09% of foreign tourists in India. Despite rising infrastructure investments and river cruise developments, several key structural and geographical gaps continue to hinder its broader growth. It is common knowledge that while major urban centres like Guwahati and Dibrugarh boast improving accessibility, most peripheral and rural tourist hotspots continue to suffer from poor last-mile road connectivity, standardised home-stay facilities, a lack of well-groomed drivers and guides, good parking facilities, and insufficient public convenience facilities, including quality food. Barring the capital city, there is a distinct scarcity of well-equipped hotels, standardized homestays, and budget-friendly lodging. This deprives tourists of comfortable stays and restricts extended tourist visits. Industry insiders, on the other hand, reportedly point out thesevereshortage of trained, multilingual local tourist guides and professional consultancy services. Moreover, there appears to be some kind of alack of cohesive coordination between various government departments, private stakeholders, and local communities, which in turn hampers unified marketing and sustainable planning. Visitors from outside sometimes find it frustrating to navigate around Assam. Poor maintenance of approach roads from the main national highways to several major tourist sites results in agonisingly slow and bumpy journeys. In Guwahati, on the other hand, tourists often complain of harassment by local auto-rickshaw and app-based cab drivers such as Ola and Uber. Some common grievances are ride cancellations, drivers demanding exorbitant fares, refusal of digital payments, demands for extra cash, lack of cleanliness in vehicles, spitting habits of drivers, and frequent use of mobile phones by drivers while on the move. Some drivers, including deluxe bus drivers, tend to stop for tea and lunch only at restaurants of their choice, which denies tourists the opportunity to select their own food. The most concerning issue is the lack of shopping options. Assam’s tourism sector is expanding rapidly, but visitors can purchase only a few items in the major destinations to carry home. Most places still lack locally manufactured, high-quality souvenir items. Even in a place like Kamakhya, most of the souvenirs on sale come from outside the state and are of poor quality.