NEW DELHI, Feb 9: Meghalaya will see a dramatic rise in tourist footfall, especially from abroad in the post-COVID situation, with the improvement in connectivity, particularly the launch of the first-ever Shillong-New Delhi flight service in December last year.
This was conveyed by DoNER minister Jitendra Singh to Chief Minister Conrad Sangma during a meeting here on Tuesday.
“Direct air flight from Shillong to Delhi was a long pending requirement and Shillong, being a popular tourist destination as well as the original capital of the erstwhile Assam, richly deserved this facility,” Singh said.
Meanwhile, sources from FlyBig, the airline operating the lone direct flight from the national capital to the city, said passenger traffic on the route has increased since the inception of the service on December 21 last year.
“An ambitious project to lay the double rail track has been undertaken in the region,” Singh said.
The chief minister informed the DoNER minister that tourist spots in Meghalaya have started receiving visitors in huge numbers. Singh said he was confident that the year 2021 would be good for tourism in the region because many regular holidaymakers, who followed the annual routine of visiting European destinations, would now find a parallel option in Shillong and other similar destinations.
“While the European holiday resorts were badly affected by the COVID pandemic, the tourist resorts in the Northeast remained mostly free of the pandemic,” he pointed out.
The chief minister appreciated the manner in which the DoNER ministry has been forthcoming to address the priorities of the Northeastern states.
The issue of allocation of funds in new projects with central assistance also came up for discussion.
Sangma also placed before the minister some new proposals for support from the DoNER ministry and the North Eastern Council.
The Union minister assured the chief minister that he would have these proposals examined.
