SHILLONG: The ongoing sunny spell in the city is a matter of great rejoices for tourists holidaying here, now.
The breathtaking gesture of theirs only ensures how weather can also play a part in promoting tourism and that was exactly asserted by these tourists themselves. There are opinions that leisure tourism is a concept gaining ground more these days and Shillong and its suburbs actually have the potentialities to address such tourists, who like to spend more time in the open under the sun and with nature than what one understands by normal tourism.
Speaking to The Shillong Times, one such tourist from Mumbai Jalaj Khemkar said that more and more people are going for leisure holidays now than normal sightseeings.
“After thinking for several times, I can see that I have not taken a wrong decision as Shillong is a good holiday destination. But I am perturbed by the lack of tourism arrangements,” he said after learning about this hill station from a Shillongite working in the financial capital. While elaborating about arrangements Khemkar who is holidaying here with his family said, “This place is blessed with such nice weather and I can tell you had this been in Mumbai, entrepreneurs there would have turned it with leisure tents, local cuisines, tradition, culture etc for a good family outing.”
Another tourist from West Bengal Punarvasu Chatterjee said that tourists look for leisure outings because given the hectic corporate life there is not much time for them to be with their families and many try to quench that shortfall in these outings.
“I have seen in Calcutta that tourist opinions are polled to get their tastes since West Bengal supplies maximum tourists to other states and tourist destinations are tuning their sites to cater these flow of tourists,” he said adding that he was unaware about the ILP stir here and thanked his ignorance or else he would not have been able to witness the weather here.
He said that countryside stays like hutments can come up in a big way in places like Cherrapunjee since Meghalaya has the potential and should tap these areas.
Another such tourist from neighboring Guwahati, Hemabati Goswami said that though some outer tent or trekking infrastructure is provided in few places in Cherrapunjee she said that there are many other places in East Khasi Hills and even Garo Hills which can be developed for leisure holidays.
“The beautiful flora and fauna, rivulets and natural falls are mostly sought after by tourists now all over the globe and given the fact that Meghalaya have them in abundance it cannot go wasted,” she said. These tourists also said that traditional massaging, healing can be included to give a holistic experience to the visitors as these can open up new avenues for locals, too.