Those who said YES had this to say:
• It is much better organised this year. Tourists coming from different countries, including US Consul General, is encouraging despite factional fights and NSF protests. RG Lyngdoh’s visit from Meghalaya is commendable. Keep it up.
Those who said NO had this to say:
• No, we are not satisfied. The price of the product is high. I think they should lower the price to its actual price. There is no change. It’s the same every year. Now people are bored with the same stuff and programs.
• The Hornbill festival could be better organized. The dusty field and the carefree sex and flowing booze were signs that the organizers were not doing what they should be doing.
• Only name sake festival but lack of real activities and work need of the hour.
• Why is the KUKI one of the signatories of the Memorandum to the Simon Commission not represented in the festival?
• It seems to be an exercise in futility as the larger civil society is not really involved. Involvement of people from other districts is minimal and even the number of official guests and official friends exceeds the number of real tourists. And for all these Friends of Establishment, the state exchequer is spending millions, so sad. It would have been nice if scarce resources would have first been spent on creating infrastructure like provision of drinking water supply in Kohima, augmentation of Hotel and Rest House facilities, having more places where tourists could go and facilitating their interaction with people, culture and cuisine of the State. One even wonders if Kohima has got a monopoly over Hornbill Festival and will it ever be taken to other districts of the State. Moreover, with ILP and PAP regimes and controls in place, Tourism is bound to be a non starter!!!
• No, I am not satisfied. The government is capitalizing on the Hornbill Festival and projecting that it is doing some development activities, when actually the government has been a hindrance.
Those who said MAYBE had this to say
• Hornbill Festival billed by the government to showcase the culture for the promotion of tourism in Nagaland seems to had been a great show however the number of local visitors were more than that of foreign tourists wherein the visitors from other states and country is supposed to be numbering more. This is discouraging!!! And as far as the food and other showcase products are concerned, Common!! It should be made less expensive so that more visitors can enjoy the rich culture of the state. If it is not made available in an easy way how can you expect to distribute commodities to other areas of the globe? This festival is not just a cultural show but promotion of traditional stuff to the foreigner or tourist from other states of the country. How can you just let the Tourist let go this way? In fact you should get hold of these people as an opportunity to gain something from them. The rock contest and film stuff is a good idea of attracting more people. Hope the next one will be very encouraging for both the locals as well as the other visitors.
