By Benjamin Lyngdoh
September 27 is celebrated as World Tourism Day. This year’s theme is ‘rethinking tourism’. In Meghalaya, this year too would see celebrations across government, tourism agencies, educational institutions, etc. While there is a sense of joy, there is also a concern over the problems in tourism. Meghalaya tourism is becoming a case of ‘throwing pearls at the pigs’. It is a bummer and a frustration. Amidst the potential of life-changing impacts, there is a lack of proper thinking from the State Government and stakeholders. Most of the measures/schemes such as tourism accommodations, transportation, legalised gambling, etc look like stop-gap steps just to provide employment. There is a lack of thinking as to how these would integrate and contribute towards tourism development.
At present, the tourism operators operate the way they wish with no cohesiveness. For example, a village engages in community-based tourism without any basic knowledge of tourism services such as food, accommodation, waste management, etc. Add to all that, there are no rules/policy on carrying capacity, training of human resource, financial benefits sharing, etc. In such a case, how is tourism supposed to be an intervention for development?
Now, how did ‘rethinking tourism’ come about as a theme? It is basically an outcome of the unfavourable impact of the covid-19 pandemic. As the global tourism economies are heading back to their normal levels, there is a thought process on the need to transform tourism. This transformation has to do with the creation of destinations with sustainable practices. Embedded within, is the effort towards creation of ‘resilient’ tourism businesses on the platform of consistent savings habits and best financial practices. In Meghalaya, this sort of thinking has not dawned as yet. Forget about resilient businesses, the recent statement of the State Government on legalised gambling is just plain bizarre. This is because gambling cannot be considered an effective strategy to tackle the competition faced from other destinations of the north-east region. It neither has the scale or the demand to be effective. Few hotels will have casinos and few tourists will be involved in it. Gambling is not the unique selling proposition of Meghalaya. Or is the state government thinking of replacing ‘natural-beauty’ with gambling? That would be suicidal.
To tackle competition there is a need to analyse the strengths and build on them. Identify the opportunities and work on them. The strength is natural-beauty and the opportunities are niche tourism like cuisine, health and wellness. Is the government not looking into these as they are less pleasing to the eyes? But, there is a silver lining. At least the Government has publicly on record acknowledged that there is competition from others. This can be taken as a start for devising better strategies and policies.
If we go by the ‘tourism area life-cycle model’, Meghalaya tourism is very well into its development stage (initiation and growth stages are already done). After this, the other two stages are saturation and decline. Theory tells us that the nature of saturation and more importantly decline would depend on the strategies and initiatives undertaken at the development stage. Point being, whatever is done now must add value to the tourism sector. Hence, what value do events like cherry blossom festival add to tourism development? Do they bring responsible and high-spending visitors? Do they promote best business practices and sustainable environmental focus? The answer is all in the negative. As such, it would be best if the money earmarked for such events are rather effectively spent on the promotion of Meghalaya tourism. Spend the money specifically. If you like, do a tourism surgical strike. It is learned that today Meghalaya is a well sought- after destination by South India. But, there is a lack of awareness about its tourism products and services. Taking advantage of this, the Government may devise an effective promotion campaign of Meghalaya through the print and electronic means. In addition, the money is better spent on providing training to the current stakeholders on best practices and service quality. Look at possibilities of setting way-side amenities like rest rooms and wash rooms. Spend wisely. In a recent discussion with some youths at the university, there was a feeling that events like cherry blossoms are best left to a consortium of private agencies to engage in. The government may just be a participant/sponsor in the exercise. Well, these boys and girls are not wrong!
If we go by how tourism accommodations are coming up, it is a disaster. For now, let us look at the structural aspect. There is a mix-up of terminology. The proper distinction between a lodge, homestay, bed and breakfast, inn, tavern, guest house, resort, hotel, etc is absent. People are giving whatever name they please and there is no one to check on it. For example, there are many accommodations which call themselves a homestay but their operations and services are like that of a guest house/resort. Similarly, there are properties that call themselves a resort but operate like a homestay/guest house. There are some who position themselves as a lodge but they operate like a hotel and vice versa. Is this a problem? Yes it is. This is because now-a-days tourists are particular about the accommodation that they seek and they pay accordingly. For example, a tourist books a guest house for a stay by paying a certain amount but the services are that of a homestay only. The tourists will be disappointed. On the contrary, a tourist books a homestay accommodation but the services he experienced are nothing short of a hotel. The homestay will make lesser margins. This confusion has to be cleared. The only way to do it is to guide the businesses to name and classify their accommodations according to the services on offer. The tourist will get what they expect and want to experience. Here, the tourism thinkers, strategists and government need to come together and properly structure accommodations in a professional and honest manner. The same goes with food, beverages, transportation, etc. The government may set up a team to do a year-long stock taking of the businesses and come up with a lasting solution.
In the end, many have written and given perspectives on Meghalaya tourism. In summing them up, the suggestions are basically two. First, address the problems of carrying capacity, waste management and service quality. Once these are addressed, many other things like the goal of having high-spending tourists will fall in line. Second, formulate a ‘tourism development model’ of Meghalaya. Will it be based on community and nature or adventure and wellness or casinos and gambling, etc? Decide now. This will require a proper study by looking at the ground realities and not do things based on guesswork or hunch. It is admitted that most of the suggestions here are unsolicited, but the government would do well to at least examine their feasibility and viability. Else, if things continue the way they are, Meghalaya tourism will not be maintainable into the next generation.
(The writer teaches at NEHU; Email – [email protected])