By Benjamin Lyngdoh
27th September is celebrated as World Tourism Day under the aegis of United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO). The theme for this year is ‘Tourism and jobs: A better future for all’. This time the relationship between tourism and jobs is being posited as the crux of the discourse while stressing on the positive impacts of the sector on the future well-being of the stakeholders. That way it is an interesting proposition whilst being ‘a fuzzy issue’ in itself. This is because ‘jobs’ in the context of the tourism sector is one of the most difficult elements to delineate. To start with, there is an overlap between tourism and hospitality (although it is fair to say that they are inter-dependent), jobs in tourism are seasonal in nature; numerous tourism-enterprises are not purely tourism-related and so forth. Amidst all this it is difficult to state for sure as to how many jobs are attributed (directly and/or indirectly) to tourism. Nonetheless, amongst this uncertainty; the theme is valid and it is to be discussed. As such, the discourse can be centered around the future potential of tourism in relation to jobs (while leaving the technicalities of specific numbers at bay). Moreover, although the arguments are broad-based; it is also done so with specific interest on the Meghalaya tourism sector. Accordingly, I place the following pointers –
Firstly, what if it is just about jobs and not the future? Jobs in tourism are a plenty and growing every year. This can be inferred from the inflow of tourists and the potential for the development of more tourist attractions. There is a demand and hence, the supply needs to step up too. However, due to the unorganized nature of our tourism sector; there is a lack of clarity amongst the youth on the future sustainability of their tourism initiatives. As of today, no one can say for sure as to ‘where will Meghalaya tourism end up in another 20 years’. Add to this, the remuneration in the sector being pretty meager at the entry-level. Tourism entrepreneurship is thriving; but where is the ecosystem for future growth? There are no blue oceans to swim to with tourism predominantly confined to only two (East Khasi Hills and West Jaintia Hills) of the eleven districts of the state. All of this has resulted in people using tourism jobs as a stop-gap measure and a stepping stone into something more secure and rewarding. Most of the youth see tourism only as a part time job/enterprise. This begs the question; will it lead to a better future for all? As of today, the answer is pretty obvious!
Secondly, what if Meghalaya were to lose its natural environment? Climate change is a natural process; however, these days it is growing ominous exponentially with no signs of reversal. In my varied earlier writings focused around the theme ‘tourism’; I have always maintained certain arguments, namely – ‘no natural setting, no Meghalaya tourism’, ‘mass tourism is a bane for us’, ‘alternative forms of tourism (in particular ecotourism and wellness tourism) is our unique selling proposition’ and ‘sustainable tourism development model is the need of the hour to spearhead into the future’. Be that as it may, the pivot around which everything revolves for us is climate and the dreaded issue of climate change. Meghalaya has been receiving erratic rainfall with every passing year and this has already impacted upon the perception of tourist as to the attractiveness of our tourism spots. As a case in point, the Seven Sisters view point at Sohra has been receiving lesser tourist this year as a result of the seven waterfalls erratically drying up within a week of the rains stopping. It was indeed a very sad sight of our rivers! But, climate is not entirely in our hands; or is it? It is a global issue after all. Think Amazon!
Thirdly, what if Mawlynnong were to lose its tag of ‘Asia’s cleanest village’? That year was 2003 when the tag was bestowed by Discover India Magazine. However, now it is 16 years since and the Mawlynnong of today has lost its charm and attraction of the old days. In time the place has transformed from a well-knit and rejuvenation attraction into a lump of commercialism. The ideal of community-based tourism and ecotourism (which was initially seen as a path towards sustainability) has been irreversibly overtaken by the demands and lucrative inducements of mass tourism. ‘Cleanliness’ is ironically under question now. As such, is there a future in this? This question requires attention as in a recent interaction with one of the entrepreneurs’ the lady quipped ‘I shudder to think what would happen to us if we were to lose the tag of Asia’s cleanest village? Most of them are well-informed enough to know that there are other attractions in India and abroad which is giving them stiff competition. In addition, there are many who have opined that if Mawlynnong were to be re-evaluated it would lose its cleanliness tag. Alas, this would be a dent on the face of Meghalaya tourism with negative impacts upon jobs (to start with) due to resultant curtailed demand.
Fourthly, what if virtual reality tourism takes over? In the age of 4G, the technological assault on virtual reality is realism. More so, we are in the threshold of 5G enabled developments with Huawei Technologies (the Chinese multinational corporation) reportedly being ready to dish out such networks and gadgets. Hence when 5G kicks in we shall have virtual experiences across myriad aspects of our lives and tourism shall not be spared. Well, even today you can experience the great pyramids of Egypt without actually being there. This is the power of ‘virtual reality-based creative disruption’. Hence, just picture this; our beautiful landscapes, rivers and waterfalls, valleys and hills, caves and villages, culture and art and so forth being available under virtual reality tourism platforms. In such a case, our tourist inflow numbers would trickle down by a significant degree. That would have a cascading effect on the growth of our tourism industry. Everything tourism will take a hit! Do we have a mechanism to alleviate such developments? Apparently not! However, there is a silver lining and that is excellent service quality delivery by our tourism entrepreneurs and the ability to deliver on impeccable human touch in the tourism experience of the visitor. Technology can never replace this! Accordingly, the development of tourism-related soft skills is a must.
Lastly, what if our tourism was well planned? Then we would be starting with vision, mission and goals. These would be the guidelines for our strategies and plans in keeping with the competition in the tourism world. Indeed, it would also enable us to identify collaborations and cooperation with other markets. As a result, we would be able to organize the different elements of tourism (transportation, food, accommodation, etc) in a competitively structured way. This will enable evaluation and control. This calls for a ‘sustainable tourism development model’ with the starting point being the creation of a ‘tourism database’. After all, our Chief Minister Conrad Sangma recently said at the ‘68th plenary session of the NEC’ that tourism contributes ‘less than 5% to the state GDP’. This roughly translates into Rs. 1600 crore only. Going by potential evaluations, the contribution of tourism can be up to 20% of the state’s GDP. It is time for all the stakeholders to start working on it!
(The Author teaches at NEHU)