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Our Correspondent
Kohima, Sep. 27 (EMN): The tourism industry was hit hard due to the coronavirus pandemic but a management consultant asserted that it can be a "life saver" for a tourist potential state like Nagaland.
Speaking on the occasion of World Tourism Day, celebrated by a Kohima-based travel agency called Alder Tours and Travels on Monday, Management Consultant John Meyase observed that tourism has the potential to employ people and provide employment opportunities.
“If we stick to it, there are a lot of things that tourism can offer. It can create income generation and impact people's lives at various levels, such as shopkeepers, taxi drivers, hotels and restaurants to name a few. Things are only starting now,” he said.
He pointed out some of the unhealthy practices by some locals towards tourists who visit Nagaland. According to Meyase, 'most of the things that we do are narrow-minded and short-sighted'. People tend to "fool" tourists by selling things at a high price, which ultimately stops them from coming again.
In this regard, he said there is a lot of responsibility in tourism being the face of his/her states.
“This is where one showcases their lives to others. He also added that being professional in this industry is crucial. To realise this, one must work on personal developments by learning new languages”.
He further said that tourism had been affected in the last two years due to the pandemic. The major industry suffered around the world is tourism. He took the example of a tourist country like Bhutan where 50% of its population is engaged in the tourism industry.
Unlike other industries, tourism will take some more time to recover from the loss as tourists might not travel immediately. Though still struggling, he observed that things are turning around and changing across the globe.
On the advantages of tourism, he said it brings understanding and connection between people of different countries.
“It is tourism that fills the gap between people as they get to know one another's way of life,” he added.
Conversely, tourism shapes people in understanding each other’s differences.
Kevichulie Meyase, proprietor of Alder Tours and Travels, informed that his agency is stepping into 18 years.
‘All these years, the journey had been filled with ups and downs yet those had sharpened them along the way,’ he said.Explaining the name of his agency, he said that they had used alder for the fact that alder trees do just to the farmers in terms of providing nutrients to soil as well as providing log as firewood.He also informed that Alders Tours and Travels had recently partnered with TUTC (the ultimate travelling camp). According to the proprietor, TUTC generates about INR 10 lakh in each Hornbill Festival and expressed happiness to have entered into a partnership with them.