Every village in Assam has potential to become a tourist destination: Jayanta Mallabaruah in Shillong

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaSeptember 2, 2024

Assam Tourism Minister, Jayanta Mallabaruah said on Monday that the state has seen a significant increase in tourist arrivals since 2016. The number of foreign tourists visiting Assam has surged from 6,000 to 42,000, while the domestic tourist footfall has reached nearly a crore.

Baruah also called for strong support from the Central government to further enhance the state’s tourism sector and emphasized that every village in Assam holds the potential to become a tourist destination, highlighting the state’s rich cultural heritage and natural beauty.

Sharing the remarkable growth of the state’s tourism industry in the Tourism Ministers Conference for North Eastern & Eastern States/Union Territories, chaired by Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat in Shillong, Baruah said: “Since 2016, Assam’s tourism sector has undergone a significant transformation.”

The Minister attributed this success to focused initiatives and government support.

The conference focused on strategies to enhance the tourism sector across the region.

Baruah highlighted the need for a comprehensive marketing strategy to unlock the full potential of Assam’s diverse tourist attractions. He underscored the importance of promoting tea tourism, golf tourism, wildlife tourism, and religious tourism, which hold great promise for the state’s economic development and livelihood enhancement.

Baruah also addressed challenges such as the need for regular airfares to make Assam a more attractive destination for budget tourists. He discussed ongoing efforts to develop luxury tourism infrastructure in popular destinations and the facilitation of homestays in lesser-known destinations under the ‘Amar Alohi’ scheme.

The Minister also requested the Ministry of Tourism to develop a search engine that would assist tourists in finding local homestays, minimizing the involvement of multinational companies which will benefit the small players.

The Minister underscored the need to address and reshape external perceptions of Assam, which is often viewed primarily in the context of insurgency and flood challenges. He called for the intervention of the Union government to assist in this endeavour.

Assam Tourism Development Corporation (ATDC) managing director Kumar Padmapani Bora delivered a presentation on the tourism sector of Assam and various initiatives taken by the department in recent times.