Shillong: The 'Scotland of the East' is not looking for increasing footfall but focussing on high-value tourists.

"Theoretically, a higher number of tourists may not necessarily translate into increased spending in the State. However, a focus on high-value tourists can lead to more consumption in the State without a proportional adverse impact on the environment. Therefore, increasing footfall will no longer be the only metric for evaluating the growth of tourism in the State. It will also comprise the average amount spent by the tourists and the number of nights spent by them in the State" says the Meghalaya draft state tourism policy 2022 which has now been put up for discussion.

This is essentially what chief minister Conrad Sangma had spoken at the inauguration of Meghalaya Vivanta recently. " The State faces a shortage of high quality rooms and presence of five-star hotels in Shillong and the governmnt would focus to attract high value tourists , host national and international music and sports events. Vivanta Meghalaya would herald an era of luxury tourism in the State" he said.

Meghalaya currently has about 640 accommodation units comprising 5,100 rooms (those registered with the tourism department as of 2021 - the actual numbers may be slightly higher). The number of rooms is too few in a State that sees a footfall of 12.7 lakhs (expected to touch 15 lakhs by 2024). To add to this, a very small proportion of these rooms command a high tariff that is preferred by high-value tourists. Further, all of them remain completely booked during the major tourist seasons and thus put an artificial cap on the number of tourists that can visit the State on any given day.

"With the rising popularity of nature-based tourism, a reversal in trends of outbound foreign tourists who are now preferring domestic destinations and an increase in disposable income, the demand for quality accommodation is only going to increase in the future. Accordingly, the government will strive to undertake measures with participation from the private sector to augment the number of high-value rooms with a specific focus on making these facilities available in newer geographies. These may include large hotels/resorts built and operated by established brands and operators similar to Vivanta Meghalaya, Shillong and Courtyard by Marriott; medium-sized properties operated by individual and community cooperatives and homestays operated by individual entrepreneurs. Collectively, the Government shall strive to double the number of accommodation units in the State within the next five years, 50% of them being of high value (falling in the highest GST slab).

According to a Statista study on luxury tourism market in India, domestic luxury tourism in India was estimated to have generated only half of the revenue it did in 2019 while its international luxury tourism sector was anticipated to have lost one billion US dollars which is due to pandemic. The report forecassts that India's luxury tourism sector will reover by 2022 and even generate revenues surpassing the pre-pandemic numbers in the suceeding years.

Shanghai-headquartered New Development Bank has sanctioned $79 million for Meghalaya Ecotourism Infrastructure Development Project which will help in development of five ecotourism projects.

Leading industry body FICCI has asked the government to allocate an amount of funding to developing 'high-end-tourism in India to bring wealtheier tourists. This money can be spent on developing better transport iunfrastructure and encouraging innovation and digitisation within the sector.

In 2019, the tourist footfall in Meghalaya  stood at about 12.7 lakhs (including 25,000 foreigners). Among the Northeastern states, this is highest after the states Assam and Sikkim. The footfalls have grown steadily over the last decade and are once again witnessing a resurgence post the COVID pandemic. It is expected that the annual tourist footfall will cross 15 lakhs by 2024.

According to tourist footfall figures, Meghalaya has seen a 524.28 per cet increase in domestic tourist arrivals in 2021 as compared to 2020 which is the second highest growth after Leh Ladakh.

The tourism sector plays a prominent role in providing livelihood opportunities to almost 50,000 people in Meghalaya and it has been estimated that the sector contributes about 4.1% to the State’s GSDP.

"The new tourism policy has been designed in a manner that it will help create capacity and employment opportunities in the local economy and significantly contribute to the realization of this vision. Apart from evolving strategies to successfully attract a larger section of tourists of both domestic and foreign categories arriving in India, the State also needs to move swiftly to garner a larger section of tourists who

are now looking for domestic destinations in place of international destinations post the COVID pandemic. A concerted push to the tourism sector will also help strengthen and establish the brand identity of the State in national and global fora" the draft policy says.

Low-impact tourism: The government shall encourage and promote tourism experiences which have a low impact on the environment and resources, particularly in environmentally sensitive areas. Tourism service providers, governmental agencies/authorities and local communities shall be sensitized to minimize the use of scarce and non-renewable resources in the development and operation of tourism facilities and services.

One of the thrust areas of the tourism policy would be to develop core and auxiliary infrastructure.  It would focus on developing quality accommodation which are critical to the growth of tourism at any destination. They attract tourists who have a higher propensity to spend and add to the overall income opportunities of the residents and of the State. The government would develop iconic and public infrastructure, wayside amenities, tourist information centers and signages.

Connectivity is another issue as the present levels of connectivity to and within the State fall short in comparison to the major tourist hubs such as Kerala or Uttarakhand. Though most of the destinations in the State have all-weather connectivity, there is a huge scope for improvement when it comes to enhancing the tourism experience. Currently, tourists face difficulties in accessing far-off destinations such as Mawsynram, Mawkyrwat, Balpakram, Nokrek and Siju.

New Circuits: Tourism in Meghalaya is currently concentrated around what can be called the NorthSouth axis covering Umiam, Shillong and Sohra/Dawki. These destinations have most of the tourism facilities such as accommodation units and receive over 90% of the tourist footfall. This has led to enormous pressure on the existing resources and has also led to a regional imbalance in the state. The draft policy says the government should strive to develop new circuits beyond Umiam, Shillong and Sohra in a hub and spoke model. These may include the creation of infrastructure and connectivity to newer regions.

The policy says the government may implement a focused marketing and promotion strategy. The focus should be on connecting with a larger group of customer base across the country in the short term and globally in the longer term while ensuring sustainable tourism development.  It also says the Tourism Department may consider onboarding a brand ambassador along with sponsoring events/festivals to gain traction among a larger audience and it may design and release national and international campaigns to promote Meghalaya as an attractive, multicultural, and eco-friendly destination.

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