By Benjamin Lyngdoh
For the past ten days Meghalaya tourism has been under a relentless media trial. The fourth pillar of democracy projected the district administration of East Khasi Hills and the state government as being inept, ineffective and if we go by some media stories – ‘complicit’. Now, complicit is just a step away from saying that the people of Meghalaya are criminals. This is highly condemnable and now since the unfortunate Raghuvanshi episode is coming to a logical conclusion, these media houses will need to do some soul-searching. But, the bigger picture here is what is at stake for Meghalaya tourism and are there lessons to be learned?
Safety and security
Tourism is a highly sensitive sector. It is easily impacted adversely by unstable and insecure conditions. The covid-19 pandemic is the best reminder of recent years where the other economic activities were opened from September 2020, whereas tourism was allowed only from February 2021. Then, during the second wave the restrictions was re-imposed in April 2021 and tourism resumed only from October, 2021. Tourism is a leisure activity and as such people would travel only under conditions of safety and security. It is high time that all the tourism operators in Meghalaya across all service providers – accommodation, food and beverages, transportation and logistics, guides, CBT management committees, etc., are registered with the state government. This would then also include compulsory registration of the employees being employed by all the tourism service providers. This will help in tracking personnel involved in tourism activities and also act as a database for policy making. Further, it should be compulsory for the tourists to share their itineraries with the district administration/state government once a tour package is confirmed. Even independent travelers (who do not take a tour package) are required to share their travel plans by registering into a portal. Law and order, and safety and security are a state subject; but, it is time for the Meghalaya tourism stakeholders and the tourist to play their parts as well.
Integrated tourism
applications
Today, tourism businesses cannot think of succeeding without leveraging their operations on the platform of technology. Everything across recording of transactions, accounting and finance, human resources monitoring, marketing and advertising, etc are today done by using cloud-based applications which can be accessed from any location through multiple devices. For example, Zoho Books is pretty popular in India. While applications are available at micro (enterprise/unit) levels, the challenge is to have an application at macro level. This is the task that Meghalaya tourism is faced with currently. The registration of the tourism service providers and their employees, the recording of the tourist itineraries, etc will require a major portal/application which is supposed to run 24/7. Here, the state government can think of involving a corporate like TCS (Tata Consultancy Services) to help out. It would involve paying the big bucks but it is an investment worth every dime. Further, the tourism application should be integrated. This means, for instance – A does an accommodation at Hotel XYZ and then takes the transportation service from ABC Enterprise and the adventure activities from DEF Enterprise. Now, the application should work in such a way that Hotel XYZ, ABC Enterprise and DEF Enterprise will be intimated that A is their common point of contact. This will help in providing seamless services and also track the movements and whereabouts of A.
Village tourism
volunteers
A number of villages have volunteers around the trek routes. For instance, in the Nongriat trek and beyond leading up to Rainbow Falls there are youths who function as assistants. However, it is time to formalize the entire activity. It should now be the responsibility of every village that is already practicing tourism to formalize youths as ‘village tourism volunteers’. This prerogative of the Village Dorbar should then be under the supervision of the state government. Strict guidelines are to be in place to ensure do’s and don’ts are adhered to. For better cooperation from the side of the tourist, it is better if the volunteers are in uniform with a name tag. This will also help in dealing with issues such as littering, plastic usage, etc. It is to be noted that these volunteers are not guides. Only those youths who have had formal training on tourism guiding are to be considered as guides. For villages who are trying to start tourism activities, it should be mandatory for them to first have volunteers and guides in place.
Entry fee
Meghalaya tourism is nature-based but there has been no attention given to carrying capacity. Attractions like Sohra and nearby areas have all exceeded their carrying capacity for years together. Carrying capacity gets no attention from the tourism service providers as it would mean lesser footfalls which in turn results in lesser revenue and profit. It is a conundrum between the need to preserve the environment and the demands for a livelihood. One possible strategy is to start an ‘environmental preservation and economic assistance fee’ charged per day from the tourist. It would be a case of hitting two birds with one stone. Firstly, the fund collected would help in interventions to preserve the environment. This will also help in attracting high-end tourists. Secondly, the service providers who would then be impacted by the decrease in footfalls can be assisted economically from the fund. It is a win-win situation. This can be executed effectively through integrated tourism applications.
Fascination with numbers has to stop
These days there is a talk of achieving a footfall of 20 lakh tourists per annum in the coming years. Madness! Even with regards to the current footfall of 15 lakh tourists, the tourism services have been found wanting on many occasions. Research studies on service quality of Meghalaya tourism highlight a dismal picture especially when it comes to food and beverages, and accommodation. Meghalaya has to turn on a new leaf and focus on the things that matter. Carrying capacity and capacity building are the need of the hour. The integrated tourism applications and the entry fees can help with issues of carrying capacity and training of the service providers. However, the starting point is the political and stakeholders resolve to stop looking at the numbers game.
In the end, the unfortunate Raghuvanshi episode is about data science and how it can help in quality services, over-tourism management, safety and security of host and tourist, etc. It is time for Meghalaya tourism to embrace digital-based and environment-based interventions. It is a cumbersome task; hence, this effort can be taken as a long-term project of 4-5 years. The outcomes will undoubtedly be positive.
(The writer teaches at NEHU; Email – [email protected])