SHILLONG: Judicious pricing of tourism products in Meghalaya is important to make tourism a sustainable business said, Professor Mudit Kapoor of the Indian Statistical Institute, New Delhi. Prof Kapoor who was visiting Meghalaya along with colleagues, Prof Shamika Ravi of Brookings Institution, India and Prof Rahul Ravi of Concordia University gave a talk at the IIM Shillong recently.
Prof Kapoor who visited the living root bridge at Nohwet near Mawlynnong was appalled that tourists were only charged Rs 10 per head. “Thankfully the route to the living root bridge is quite challenging for tourists unused to ascending and descending the slippery slopes of the hills especially during the rainy season, otherwise the bridge would soon give way with too many footfalls than it can carry,” Prof Kapoor said, adding that at the present rate of visitors the bridge may not be sustainable in the long run.
“Considering that the living root bridge is a rare wonder, the people of Nohwet Village should have priced it higher. Tourists who come here can very well afford to pay a good price for such a lovely sight,” Prof Kapoor said.
Kapoor and his team correctly observed that while Meghalaya has huge potentials for tourism, not much attention has been paid by tour operators and village communities towards making tourism a sustainable livelihood. Also missing are tour guides to inform visitors about the different sights and sounds to look around, apart from the bridge.
Every now and again the persons collecting the toll to the bridge would come down and warn tourists not to lean on the living root bridge or sit on the roots because the edges were already frayed by constant footfalls. Clearly there has been no investment from the Tourism Department to capacitate the villagers here.
About two kilometres away from Nohwet village is Mawlynnong, now known as Asia’s cleanest village. The locals have now given it the cute moniker of, ‘Gods Own Garden.’ Here village elder Thom Khongthohrem briefed the team on how tourism has taken off in a big way and benefitted the community. “We started with one guest house and now we have 36 of them owned and run by our people.
One of the most frequented eating joints is run by Donbok Mawroh and his wife who was the first to venture into the tourism business.
“Donbok has now bought a vehicle and his family is doing quite well”, Thom informed. There is a marked difference in attitude between the people of Nohwet and Mawlynnong. The former perform a task; the latter enjoy having tourists and taking them around Thom explained to the visitors (Contd on P-10)
