From Our Correspondent
Guwahati: The political class and the people from numerous tribes in Nagaland are now raring to capitalize on the peace prevailing in those verdant hills to make its much sought after tourists destination.
The people of Naga hills just want to forget their blood splattered past and hope that the current negotiation between the Government of India and the rebels of the NSCN would restore lasting peace in near future. So, the time is to get on with life and open up to the world outside.
More than hundred bands of young musicians and singers keep the evenings reverberated with rhythms and lyrics of western music throughout Nagaland, the state where people are trying to set the troubled days behind while preparing to open up their hearts and homes to the people of outside willing to get seeped in wonderful and pristine natural beauty of the blue hills inhabited by numerous ethnic groups with immensely rich tradition and cultures that are hardly known to the world beyond those steep ridges.
“We are planning to exploit our tourism potential beyond the yearly Hornbill Festival that showcases our culture, ethnicity, traditional food and liquors before thousands of visitors coming from outside, but for that to happen we need huge fund for development of infrastructure especially standard accommodation,” says K Y Kikon, Director of Tourism.
He said the government is at loss to arrange for accommodation for ever increasing number of tourists coming to Hornbill Festival because of insufficient number of hotel rooms in Kohima.
“The government needs to arrange for more home stay facilities for the purpose as it does not have fund to build accommodation as on date,” the official said.
Barring the capital city Kohima and the business hub Dimapur, there are in fact no hotel facilities in any of the district headquarters in the hill state where the English-speaking villagers can be very effective stakeholders to promoting tourism and hosting tourist.
The incumbent Nagaland People’s Front (NPF) government led by chief minister N Rio has allocated only Rs 13 crore for the State tourism department for the current financial year. The amount hardly suffices as Nagaland needs to market its tourism potential vigorously outside the region.
“Besides many more number of rooms to accommodate tourists, Nagaland needs to build roads to connect its wonderful villages to make those accessible to tourists,” said a senior official of Indian Chamber of Commerce that is trying to help Nagaland government to promote its unexplored destinations.
“Nagaland government is desperately looking for benevolent grant from the Central government to develop its nascent but potent tourism sector. We have submitted proposals before the Central government to set up four new tourist destinations and four new travel circuits. Our focus is eco-tourism, cultural tourism and ethnic diversity,” the tourism director said.
As on date the major tourist attraction near Kohima is the Second World War Cemetery, green village at Khonoma, Naga Heritage Village, the local markets where wonderful handicrafts ,handloom and ethnic food items are available.
“If one is worried about the looming threat from rebels (Naga revolutionaries) in Nagaland, it is point out that during the last 60 years of rebellion,Naga rebels haven’t touched any of the visitors to the State from outside,” said the official.
He said the state was visited by 25,391 domestic tourists during 2005-2011 and by 2079 foreigners during the period.
He said since the department was getting increasing number of queries from visitors willing to visit the State, the tourists flow would definitely improve if the authorities could set up more facilities to accommodate tourist in different parts of the State besides Kohima and Dimapur.