Tourism stakeholders fear repercussions, condemn HNYF
By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, July 26: The tourism industry stakeholders in Meghalaya have strongly condemned the illegal actions of the HNYF which led to tourists being turned away from visiting popular destinations in the Sohra and Dawki regions on Friday.
The incident, which unfolded on Friday morning, has led to significant repercussions for the tourism sector, resulting in a substantial loss of revenue and widespread cancellation of hotel bookings.
Parambir Sehdave, president of the Federation of Shillong Hotels, addressing a press conference here on Friday, said, “Today’s incident has caused a 30% drop in accommodation bookings. The ripple effects of the incident are expected to lead to an additional 50% cancellation of tours and activities in the coming days, as news of the incident spreads.”
As per several tourism associations including the Tour Operators Association of Meghalaya (TOAM), Meghalaya Rural Tourism Forum (MRTF), and the Meghalaya Tourism Development Forum (MTDF), the effects of the HNYF action would be long term.
Banlum Blah, president of TOAM, expressed his disappointment over Friday’s incident and said, “I have come here because of one reason. All are aware that what happened today was, in fact, a very sad day for us in the tourism industry in Meghalaya, where we have seen that tourists coming to our state to visit the beautiful tourism spots in Sohra and Dawki were turned back. It took us many years as tourism stakeholders to build up this tourism footfall, and today’s incident has undone much of our hard work.”
Blah highlighted the immediate and widespread impact of the incident, saying, “Within the next few minutes and hours, the incident, where the tourists were turned away by HNYF in Umtyngngar, has spread across the country, maybe outside also, because of social media. We as tourism stakeholders got so many calls from all over the place with people lamenting the unfortunate incident in the state.”
Alan West Kharkongor, president of the Meghalaya Rural Tourism Forum, echoed similar sentiments. “Basically, all the stakeholders that are operating in the rural areas of Meghalaya are shocked to see that certain organisations have gone to Umtyngngar and sent back tourist vehicles from Assam. It is very unfortunate that it has caused a lot of inconvenience to tourists coming to Meghalaya. But the worst case is, you know, the state has been reflected in a very negative image now.”
The stakeholders have also written a letter to Tourism Minister Paul Lyngdoh seeking his urgent intervention to avoid incidents like this in the future.
Besides TOAM, MRTF, and MTDF, the meeting on Friday was also attended by the Tour Guides Association of Meghalaya, Federation of Shillong Hotels, Department of Tourism & Travel Management of Martin Luther Christian University and Department of Tourism & Hotel Management, NEHU.
Reacting to the HNYF’s action, KHADC MDC from Sohra, Titosstarwell Chyne said the pressure group’s action was uncalled for.
“We all appreciate the ongoing drive of the pressure groups against illegal immigrants by checking the work permit and other relevant documents. But what has happened today should not have happened,” Chyne said.
He informed that there are many residents of Sohra who own home stays and resorts and are concerned over this development since they fear that the incident is going to have a significant impact on the tourism sector in Sohra.
“Many of them have taken loans from banks to construct home stays or hotels. This is going to affect them badly,” the former KHADC CEM said.
He asked the pressure groups to explore other forms of agitation that would not hamper the livelihood of the people of Sohra who are already suffering due to the non-functional MCCL and the ban on mining and export of major and minor minerals.