The Union Ministry of Tourism’s Regional Director for the Northeast, Anil Oraw, said that the Restricted Area Permit (RAP) and Protected Area Permit (PAP), needed by foreigners for travel to three border states of the North East, have been eased considerably.
Earlier, RAP or PAP was very difficult to get but the Government of India, which is promoting the North East as a tourism destination, has eased these restrictions, Oraw told PTI.
The foreigners need RAP or PAP to visit certain parts of the North East, particularly the border states like Arunachal Pradesh, Mizoram and Nagaland.
“Now any foreign traveler can visit these states through organized tours which have to be handled by a local tour operator based in that particular state,” he said.
The local tour operators will have to do all the facilitation and there is very little rejection of foreign tourists in these states but they have to apply a bit early, Oraw said.
The Indian government is also planning to open border area tourism in the next few years as there are hardly any activities or industries in these areas, the PTI report added.
“In a bid to provide more opportunities to people of these areas, the Government of India is planning to open up the border areas with tourists likely to be allowed to go up to four kilometres near the China and Myanmar borders,” the regional director said.
The Army has also come on board in this regard, he added.
“The Government of India’s home, defence and tourism ministries are all on board together to open up border tourism so that the people residing in these areas get more employment,” he said.
People are looking forward to ‘green tourism’ and the North East has immense potential in this regard, he said.
In 2021, domestic tourism in North East had broken all records- with 1.3 crore people visiting from other parts of the country visiting because the region is open, and clean, people are friendly and hospitable, facilities including five-star and other hotels along with homestays are available and there is also abundance of natural beauty, Oraw added.