The 34-page draft tourism policy of the Government of Meghalaya released in 2022 comes 11 years after the Tourism policy of 2011. In the intervening period so much has changed and so many new destinations were discovered and promoted. The Draft Tourism Policy is comprehensive and looks after every detail involved in promoting sustainable and responsible tourism. The Government has sought public responses, especially from tour operators and communities running tourism infrastructure. Undoubtedly, tourism in Meghalaya is booming and as of 2019 there were 12.7 lakh visitors of whom 25,000 were foreigners. In between Covid had dampened the tourism and hospitality sector but they have slowly recovered. According to government estimates tourism provides livelihoods to about 50,000 people.
In 2013 the Meghalaya Rural Tourism Cooperative Federation Limited (MRTCFL) was incorporated to provide financial support, guidance and technical and tourism management skills to primary tourism co-operative societies in the tourist destinations. This works well because the communities themselves become the primary stakeholders and the Tourism Department can work through these societies. The MRTCF is a critical institution as destinations in rural Meghalaya are much sought after and a vibrant community-led tourism model is most viable in the circumstances. The Tourism Department has been working with these registered societies and supporting the creation of accommodation, viewpoints, toilet facilities et al.
Since Meghalaya cannot sustain manufacturing industries that are highly polluting, tourism is the best and most sustainable form of livelihood provided the destinations do not exceed their carrying capacity and are ultimately abandoned by high end tourists. Carrying capacity is therefore an issue that the communities need to be aware of because it is not the government’s responsibility to restrict footfalls. That is the brief of the tourism co-operative societies. The other point that merits serious discussion is the pricing of tourism products. For instance, the mesmerising sunrise at Nongjrong which is awe-inspiring cost a visitor only Rs 30. This is what turns a destination into a mass tourism product. Hence training in product pricing is integral. Communities should guard against the temptation to increase footfalls without being able to provide the tourists their ‘aha’ moment or memorable narratives. The ability to create narratives around tourism destinations is what is missing in Meghalaya. If there is one issue that poses a danger to tourism in Meghalaya it would be over-exploitation of some of the beaten tracks to the point that communities themselves feel a sense of intrusion and no longer welcome the sight of tourists. This happens especially in small villages when people’s lives are disrupted by noisy often drunken tourists. On Saturday morning the Umiam viewpoint was choc-a- bloc with visitors arriving in buses. The tourists stopped at the viewpoint but there was not a single tour guide to explain to them the genesis of the Umiam Lake. The Draft Tourism Policy envisages to carry out carrying-capacity studies in eco-sensitive destinations. This is timely so that mechanisms can be developed to ensure the sustainability of tourism as a livelihood.