GUWAHATI: Meghalaya tourism minister, Metbah Lyngdoh has said that plans are afoot to develop and promote new destinations in the state to further boost the tourist footfalls which have over the decade been on the rise.
“We are exploring the possibility of developing new places in the state in order to expand the scope of tourism further. We need to divert people from the regular places to the new places for which we are formulating plans,” Lyngdoh told The Shillong Times over phone from New Delhi on Wednesday afternoon.
The minister said he would be taking up with the Centre various aspects related to tourism development in the state.
Lyngdoh had recently visited a couple of potential tourist sites in South Garo Hills as part of a stock-taking visit.
However, tourism entrepreneurs say a lot needs to be done as several destinations in Jaintia Hills and West Khasi Hills are still untapped.
“Tourism development and promotion are still lop-sided and confined primarily to East Khasi Hills. Despite huge potential, many places in Jaintia Hills and West Khasi Hills lie untapped and therefore beyond the knowledge of visitors,” Ian Khongmen, a social activist and entrepreneur, told this correspondent.
For that matter, he added, some places in the Riwar region of East Khasi Hills are unmapped, while Laitlum, spread over private land too has a long way to go with the local dorbar not allowing even Khasis from Shillong to invest there.
Terming Shillong as a “metro in the hills”, Khongmen said the city is expanding by the day and hence getting congested and polluted.
“The trend now is that people do now want to stay overnight in Shillong but prefer being close to nature on the outskirts. I reckon about 80 per cent who come from cities outside Meghalaya don’t want to stay in Shillong now and hence prefer places like Sohra, Mawlynnong, Dawki, Krem Puri and Mawphlang,” he said.
Even as there is a long way to go for Jaintia Hills, people there are learning from the success stories of Sohra and Mawlynnong and hence forming tourism societies.
“People with a stake in the industry in Jaintia Hills are beginning to understand that tourism can be a game changer and are now forming tourism societies,” Khongmen, who has been championing the cause of eco-tourism in the state for several years now, said.
About Garo Hills, a social activist here said tourism development has to be holistic, covering infrastructure, accommodation facilities and promotion.