SHILLONG: The state government is all set to turn the prevailing COVID-19 situation into an opportunity and is working on a strategy to attract over 26 million tourists towards the North East, particularly Meghalaya.
Pointing out that a lot of people, who go out of the country for holidays, won’t be able to do so due to COVID-related restrictions, Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Monday said the adversity could be turned into an opportunity if a strategy can be devised to attract those tourists to Meghalaya.
Sangma said that the past couple of months have been difficult for the tourism sector as a result of restrictions and closures due to the pandemic; and adaptive measures need to be considered and implemented in order to attract and promote Meghalaya as a safe travel destination post-COVID.
“The challenges we face are multiple. We need to look at safety measures; we need to build the confidence of the visiting tourists. Overall we need to adapt to this entire situation to take maximum advantage to attract visitors because I feel there will be a decline in people travelling to outside locations and we will see a lot of domestic tourists coming into our state,” he said.
Stating that eco tourism and sustainable tourism must be at the crux of any strategy, the chief minister said, “People all over the world see Meghalaya as a destination from the environment perspective. The state government will continue to build its strategy on the basis of this strength and package it on similar lines to target high value tourists.”
The chief minister further said that the government has committed significant investments for the development of tourism and related infrastructure which will greatly enhance the capacities of the locations to present unique experiences to tourists visiting the state.
Emphasising on connectivity as an integral part of the travel and tourism industry, he said that the government is putting all efforts to improve air connectivity to major cities across the country.
“Air connectivity is very important for our state. Very soon we will be having direct flights from Delhi to Shillong, and subsequently, the government plans to expand this to include other major cities across the country,” the chief minister said.
Earlier, the chief minister launched the new website of Meghalaya Tourism – ‘Check into Nature’, in the presence of Commissioner and Secretary, Tourism, Vijay Kumar, Tourism Director, Cyril Diengdoh and other stakeholders from the tourism and hospitality industry, who participated through video conference.
He lauded the efforts of the department for the comprehensive website, and said it will greatly benefit tourists visiting Meghalaya.
The chief minister also launched the Restart Tourism pamphlet during the function. Restart Tourism is an initiative to promote safe and sustainable tourism practices by putting in place conscious principles to be adopted by all tourism stakeholders in the state.