‘Why do not the authorities maintain good and dust free roads? ‘
Our Correspondent
Kohima | December 7
The ongoing 18th edition of Hornbill Festival is attracting a record tourist flow. With the addition of 9430 visitors on Day 7, the Festival so far has attracted 1, 15, 513 already beating last year’s record with three days to go at the main venue in Naga Heritage Village, Kisama
Impressively, the arrival of foreign and domestic tourist has dramatically increased at 1724 and 19708 respectively. It has already surpassed the highest foreign tourists’ arrival of 1646 last year and highest domestic tourists’ attendance of 19690 in 2015.
The 2016 edition attracted the lowest overall in the last three editions with 1, 12, 604 visitors - comprising of 12962 domestic, 1646 foreign tourists and 95996 locals.
It remains to be seen whether the 2017 edition can surpass the record total attendance of 2, 24,113 in 2015. The international tourists ranged from Japan in the east to the US and UK in the west, to Israel in the Middle East Israel and from as far as South Africa.
The tourists were seen enthusiastically participating at the Naga Pineapple Eating Competition held on December 6. Delhi’s Ashish walked away with the first prize.
Another favorite contest for international and domestic tourists ‘Naga King Chili eating competition’ is slated on December 9.
This year’s Hornbill International Rock Contest in Dimapur has participants from Bhutan, Singapore and USA. “This is my 6th visit to Hornbill Festival and every time it is different and better than the last,” penned Samir Pramanik in the Visitor’s Book maintained by tourism department.
Admiring Nagaland and the Hornbill festival, Dr MK Loganathan from Assam however penned “But the road connectivity is pathetic. Why do not the authorities maintain good and dust free roads?”
He also stated that the road has to be improved and also a good number of hotels are needed.
There were also many reports of complaints about bad roads and lack of proper service at hotels, despite high prices due to limited supply.
However, there were bouquets too. Kobe Van and Heike Vipine from Belgium stated: “Thank you so much for everything. We had a great experience. Nagaland has been so nice and welcoming.”
