The North East India Tour Operators Meet conducted its first session in Kohima on February 24, 2020. The session highlighted a number of key points pertaining to travel and tourism industry and its potential for the north-eastern states of India. The advisor to Tourism, Art and Culture H Khehovi Yepthomi stated that the Northeast (NE) has the potential to become of the world’s hotspot for tourism, with its beauty, adventure and excitement to allure travellers. The tour operator representatives noted that the NE has niche features which should be capitalised. Martha R Ritse, additional secretary of tourism explained that the ‘rich cultural and natural heritage’ were the unique selling points for the North East of India. Whilst the rush for growth in the sector is good news, it is also an opportune moment to be cautious about the way we expand the sector’s footprint into the region.
Currently, Travel and Tourism constitutes one of the world’s largest economic sectors; it accounts for approximately 1 of all 10 jobs (319 million) worldwide and generates over 10% of world GDP as per the World Travel and Tourism Council study of 185 countries. In 2018, the travel and tourism industry experienced 3.9% growth whilst the overall growth in the global economy remained at 3.2%. In India, the figures are even more encouraging, with tourism accounting for 9.2% of its GDP and expected to grow at a rate of 6.9% annually. The sector currently provides employment for 42.637 million individuals. As travel fares continue to decline and the number of middle income families with spending capacity increase, the sector is estimated to continue growing, outranking many of the world’s largest economic sectors. The travel and tourism thus creates countless jobs, providing livelihoods for communities around the globe.
However, the industry also has vast socio-cultural and environmental impacts on the destinations. Negatively, employment opportunities could be availed by migrants rather than the local inhabitants besides unsociable hours of tourism work could also pose an issue. There can also be negative effect on peace and tranquillity of a tourist site due to large crowds. Tourism destinations often attract social vices like beggary, prostitution and alcoholism. Rather than preserving culture for tourism, it could fall prey to commoditisation. Environmental degradation is another major issue that needs to be addressed, as the NE is home to biodiversity components unique and indigenous to the region. While tourism can bring lots of social benefits like elimination of poverty, ensuring gender equality and empowerment, employment and economic prosperity, it is extremely important to reduce environmental impact through awareness and protection of areas. The possible negative impacts that could cause irreparable damage to the environment in the region need to be addressed before embarking on the tourism bandwagon.
