Nagaland Tourism Association backs virtual Hornbill Festival

Dimapur, Nov. 1 (EMN): The Nagaland Tourism Association (NTA) has thrown its weight behind the state government’s reported plan to host the annual Hornbill Festival virtually.

In a statement issued on Sunday, the association pointed out that the festival is the only occasion where the ‘tourism fraternity’ here in the state is assured of generating good revenue and income.

“Earnings from the festival enables us to continue through the lean months of the year. Hence the continuity of the Hornbill Festival holds great importance to everyone of us in this industry. However, we have all seen the dangers of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the protection of lives is now more important than ever. In the current scenario, having a physical Hornbill festival like that of the past years is not possible and should not even be considered a possibility. Thus, we come to the idea of a virtual Hornbill.

“A virtual Hornbill festival, as we understand it, will be a media-oriented one where there will be no inflow of tourists to the state or mass gatherings of any kind. It will instead promote the largest and most anticipated festival of festivals to the outside world through the means of social and electronic media i.e. YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc., by using recorded footage of the festival. If the Nagaland government is indeed, planning to host such a virtual Hornbill Festival as stated above, the Nagaland Tourism Association will support the state government’s decision to host such a festival. We feel that Hornbill Festival hosted virtually over the internet will not only be Covid-19 prudent as there will be no physical presence of tourists in Nagaland, but will also give an opportunity to our many talented media production houses, videographers, content developers, voice over artists, musicians and cultural troupes to showcase their expertise and earn some much-needed revenue in an otherwise similarly dry industry,” read the statement.

According to the association, there are also long-term consequences to consider. The tourism sector already supports thousands of small local entrepreneurs and has enormous employment generation potential due to its wide supply chain, it stated.

“Protecting and promoting this industry will only help the overall development of Nagaland in the future. To do this, there is a huge need to promote tourism in Nagaland to the global community of travellers and tourists at every opportunity. Having a virtual Hornbill is a perfect opportunity to reach out to a greater audience.

“The NTA realises that such a virtual festival will not bring in any immediate business to this industry nor will it benefit any of us immediately. But we understand that this continuity, even if it is only a virtual celebration, is a vital tool for the promotion of the state for the future post Covid-19 era. Therefore, we will support the state government’s endeavour and we feel that this will be a step in the right direction by the government for the development of tourism in the state in the long run. We may not realise it but tourism is not only for the handful of tour operators and hotels of Nagaland, tourism benefits many of us without us even realising it,” it stated.