North-Eastern states to be promoted as tourist destination: Mishra

New Delhi, Apr 11 (UNI) The North Eastern States should promote "Bed and Breakfast" scheme, Secretary, Tourism, A K Mishra today said.

Addressing the 3rd Business Summit of the North Eastern States on its concluding day here today, Mr Mishra said wherever it is practicable the local communities should receive visitors and in the process plan for development of their tourist attractions.

He said the Tourism Ministry has been consistently providing more than 10 per cent of its budgetary outlay for development of tourism in the North-East. In 2005-06, more than Rs 100 crore was released as against the ceiling of Rs 79 crore and the release during the recently concluded 2006-07 was Rs 110 crore against the ceiling of Rs 83 crore, he added.

The Tourism Secretary also said the region is being aggressively projected as a tourist destination through domestic and international media campaigns. He said the Centre has encouraged participation of the North-Eastern Region in major domestic and international fairs and festivals. The space in Indian Pavillion at these festivals is being provided free of cost. Mr Mishra also praised the presence of the North-East in prestigious events like WTM-London and ITB-Berlin as impressive.

He said his ministry is aware of the existence of the restrictive measures such as Protected Area Permits (PAP)/Restricted Area Permits (RAP)/Inner Line Permits (ILP), which are a major constraint in the growth of tourism.

The issue of relaxation of these artificial constraints in this regard has been taken up with the Home Ministry which, in turn, has asked the state governments for their views, Mr Mishra said adding, it will help matters if the respective governments can send their response quickly.

The minister stressed that while promotion of tourism is necessary for economic development, one should not be unmindful of the adverse impact that mass tourism would have on fragile eco-systems of the region. The emphasis, he said, should therefore be on promotion of responsible and controlled tourism and not mass tourism. He, however, maintaind that there is great scope for developing niche tourist attractions such as rivers, tea, wildlife, adventure, heritage and eco-tourism in the region. Mr Mishra noted that there is something to learn from Bhutan in the way it has promoted limited but high value tourism.

He also expressed concern over the inordinate delay in implementation of projects in the region resulting in skewed utilization of funds, non-completion of projects and cost escalation.

Sometimes, the project formulation itself is not based on ground realities, nor is it accompanied by a post-implementational strategy for management. The land for the project becomes a matter of dispute, either it is not readily available, or belongs to Forest and other Departments which are reluctant to give the clearance or the local community, which has other ideas for its use. This is where we urge the state government to be diligent and improve the implementation of projects and put in place a sustainable management system to maintain the assets created with central assistance on a long term basis. There is a need for adoption of a pragmatic approach among the North-Eastern states specially for long term lease of land for facilitating investments in the private sector projects.

Mr Mishra emphasized the need to ensure community participation in tourism projects in the region. He said, the tribal communities in the region are closely-knit; there is community ownership of public land and resources; their involvement in tourism projects will enable them to appreciate the need for sustainability and also to share the benefits from tourism equitably among all the members.

He said, the community programme of tourism projects in Nagaland is worth emulating by other states in the region. Similarly, the use of local material for building projects meant for tourist bungalows, guest houses and restaurants would lend an aesthetic and unique ambience. Such an approach for Rural Tourism Projects will make the region an attraction for international tourists who are seeking an authentic experience, Mr Mishra said.

UNI