The tourism sector in Nagaland has a huge scope to improve the state’s economy, generate employment and promote Brand Nagaland to international audiences, the Chief Minister said in the latest Budget Session of the Nagaland Legislative Assembly. With hopes for a tourism boom, an enhanced allocation of Rs 9.00 crore was also made for the Hornbill Festival, conduct of tribal festivals, reconstruction of Hotel Fira and other core activities.
He also announced that, in addition to new tourism events with special focus on experiential tourism, the Government will be supporting development of Nagaland as an off-roading destination in collaboration with ‘Wander Beyond Boundaries’ with hopes to bring in high spending adventure sports enthusiasts to the State. The Department of Art and Culture has been provided Rs 3.95 crore for, among other things, promotion of cultural activities and Hornbill Festival related activities. These state budget allocations will, hopefully, be in addition to central schemes of the Ministry of Tourism like Swadesh Darshan Scheme and PRASHAD Scheme.
Sadly, the budget does not specifically mention anything about rural tourism. The budget does vaguely mention ‘experiential tourism’ but any tourism can be an experiential tourism and, therefore, rural tourism is not likely to gain much special focus. Moreover, it is unfortunate that the department of tourism is functioning more like an organizing committee of government sponsored festivals and events while its primary role should be to facilitate growth of the tourism industry across the state. The focus should have been on strengthening the tourism department’s establishment and not festivals or events. When there are no tourism department establishments in Mokokchung, for instance, it is farfetched to expect promotion of tourism in the district overseen by an officer from Kohima.
Meanwhile, the stakeholders of the tourism industry in Mokokchung should look for a platform where they can come together and share ideas, learn from each other and propose suggestions to invite the government’s attention. The moot point here is that the stakeholders should be proactive, set realistic and attainable goals and initiate steps to make the tourism department come to Mokokchung.
Formation of a district level tourism council can be explored at the DPDB level. There are many factors that determine the success of the tourism industry and it requires experts to formulate relevant policies. Once the tourism industry is set in motion, it will continue to grow on its own because that is the nature of this industry, unless it is forced to shut down by extraordinary situations like the recent pandemic or conflict situations.
To give an impression of how big the tourism industry is, it generated 39 million jobs in India in 2020 and is projected to create 53 million jobs by 2030. This industry is one where Mokokchung, and Nagaland, can thrive.