Shillong, Nov 22: The tourism industry of Meghalaya is expected to grow to Rs 12,000 crore, and the annual footfall of visitors is set to increase to 20 lakh by 2028, Tourism Director Cyril Diengdoh said on Wednesday.
Diengdoh, while speaking at the International Tourism Mart here, said that the state’s tourism industry was valued at Rs 1,600 crore in 2022 and is expected to grow by 10 per cent annually.
He said the industry is receiving a boost with the state government making efforts to incentivise tourism-related investments by entrepreneurs.
“We have a projection that the tourism industry in Meghalaya is set to grow to Rs 12,000 crore or USD 1.5 billion by 2028, with the state’s pristine environment and cool climatic condition welcoming 2 million or 20 lakh tourists annually by then,” Cyril said.
Last year, the industry was estimated to be around Rs 1,600 crore, he said.
From 2024, the government expects 10% year-on-year growth of the industry, he said. The annual tourist footfall to the state has almost doubled in the last 10 years. It has increased from 6.9 lakh in 2013 to 12.7 lakh this year.
“Statistics indicate that 9.38 lakh were domestic tourists coming mostly from Assam (43 per cent) and West Bengal (14 per cent), with the remaining from other states,” he said.
The state has also welcomed 10,000 international tourists, with 79 per cent from Bangladesh alone, Cyril said.
However, one factor that that is proving to be deterrent is the high cost of domestic airfares from mainland India to Shillong.
The airfare from Delhi to Bangkok as on December 1 (one-way) is Rs 11,470 whereas flights from Delhi to Umroi are priced around Rs 14,974, travel agents claimed.
Entrepreneurs from the tourism industry from all the NE states agreed that airfares from Delhi/Mumbai to Bangkok are cheaper than those to Shillong or Agartala or any of the state capitals of the region.
“We want the government of India to intervene and put a cap on this because it is unfair that domestic fares are costlier than international destinations,” a Guwahati-based tour operator said. (PTI)
