Nagaland can bank on experiential tourism to make up lost ground — Metha

Our Correspondent
Kohima, May 1 (EMN): Advisor to the chief minister, Abu Metha has batted for ‘experiential tourism’ in Nagaland post Covid-19, as a way forward to rebuild the tourism industry that has been badly impacted by the pandemic.

Metha was addressing a programme on ‘The Khonoma experience: Tourism strategies for the new millenium’, which was held at Khonoma village on Saturday.

The advisor said that ‘with the pandemic, needs and requirements of tourism have completely changed. People want to go to safer places. People want to come and stay with local communities, have conversations, build human relationships and make friends across the world’.

“Here is where Nagaland and Khonoma can benefit because tourists are now looking for experiential tourism,” he said. 

‘People from all over the world should come and stay in our homestays, in our kitchens, interact with elders and make friendships. At the same time, take Nagaland and Khonoma to the world,’ he added.

To achieve that, experiential tourism has to be strategised, he said, adding that sustainable lifestyles and responsibility towards the environment have to be created.

“Everything should be collective. Communities must be involved in promoting the village. It must involve everybody in the strategies and ensure that everybody gets the benefits,” he stated.

He was of the opinion that there is a need to upscale and work on value addition to tourism activities in Khonoma village. 

The advisor stated that the state government, particularly the department of Tourism, would help in capacity building, mobilisation and digitising of the places such as setting up of websites.

‘Once the door to tourism opens, we should not miss the bus,’ he said while lauding the steps taken by the village towards tourism and thanked them for making Nagaland known to the world community.

“Tourism has been the hardest hit industry due to the pandemic. Millions of people dependent on tourism have lost their jobs. Every part of the country has been deeply impacted,” Metha said.

He, however, felt that the crisis was an opportunity to improve and be ready for a changed global environment.

‘We have to see what are our strengths and we have to see what best we can offer. We all know what our strengths are — rich culture, heritage, rich biodiversity, hills and landscape and most importantly our hospitable and accommodative nature which are in tune with the tourism industry,’ he said and urged the Nagas to unite, remove the evils and bring in meritocracy in order to progress.

Director of Tourism, Ajanuo Belho said that Khonoma village, as a top tourist destination, had come a long way and has many success stories to share.

She said Khonoma could be ‘tagged’ as one of the model villages for the whole Naga community in promotion of tourism in Nagaland.

“The village is the only village that conserves and preserves its flora and fauna in the whole village territory, which is first of its kind in Nagaland, unlike the other villages where they conserve under certain regions only. As per the tourist data, the state has a higher proportion of domestic tourist/ visitors in comparison to foreign tourists,” Belho said, adding that “the pandemic has immensely affected the tourism industry and so we will be facing a new post Covid-19 challenge”.  

In view of this challenge, she informed that the department has adopted some strategies for revival and sustenance of the tourism industry in Nagaland, which included governance by setting up local tourism observatories in partnership with stakeholders to generate reliable data on the shifts in demand and track possible changes in customer preferences and behaviour so that marketing and product design can be recalibrated.

She said that it would also review taxes, charges and regulation on transport; introduce client safety measures to be followed by all service providers with emphasis on Covid-19 safety, capacity building and infrastructure development and upgrading of tourist facilities among others.

“As India’s Northeast is making rapid economic progress and carving out a corridor into South-East Asia, Nagaland is standing on the threshold of an economic boom,” she said. With participation from local communities, she expressed hope that the tourism industry will have the upper hand, make way for progress and eco-friendliness to walk hand-in-hand.

She also pointed out that Khonoma needs to focus on providing more facilities and personalised service with a ‘traditional touch’. The village should focus on providing better facilities and indulge in activities that can increase the length of stay for the tourists from a day trip to seven days itinerary, she recommended. 

“The department has completed several infrastructural and developmental projects under North East Council, Shillong assisted projects. One such project is establishment of eco-tourism destination at Khonoma, which is 90% completed. On its completion, the infrastructure can serve as a tourist facilitator centre, provide food and lodging and generate revenue and employment opportunities for the community,” she informed.

Till date, eight homestays and one inn in Khonoma village have been registered with the department.

‘The Khonoma Experiences: Tourism strategies for the new millennium’ is an initiative of Dolhuni Dzüviu Golato (DDG) kikramia (family), wherein three khels of Khonoma village came together and initiated conservation of flora and fauna of the village 20 years ago. The DDG group consists of about 250 families with members in the age group of 45 to 58 years.