Finding the right model: Nagaland and its tourism industry

Having  an insight into the peer  group states in India and abroad one can opine Nagaland is in its infancy in progressive development of the tourism sector, smaller  states with relatively  lesser population have a unique opportunity to generate revenue and  project inclusive growth for its residents, Nagaland seemingly fits into this bracket  of to be tourism destinations .At present  the state can be said to have stepped into infancy of the tourism market  whilst taking slow steps towards revenue generation through inbound tourism with the Hornbill festival being promoted as the flagship event of the state, at present  the 10 day event has attracted 100,000-150,000 visitors annually and has grown year on year which though a fact is just a miniscule portion of the potential  of  Nagaland as a tourism destination, the question raised is ‘is everything laid out according a master plan for tourism?’ as of now the answer is negative there is a visible discrepancy between outlay, outcome and a nonexistent socio-economic  impact, we must analyze the challenges and this essay aims to run through the solutions point by point. Laws like article 371a and the ILP are a deterrent in creation of tourism based economy thus a lean and a participatory model will go a long way in establishing a tourism industry in a state existent on central funds.

Legislations form the foundation of any Industry and are a primal causative factor for structuring any organized form of Industry, albeit the ministry of tourism it is quintessential to create a state owned PSU apart from the tourism development board to raise the necessary funding and create infrastructure along with resource management and sale. A state owned PSU can work closely with the communities to create sustainable tourism infrastructure, acquiring and tendering off strategically situated land resource to willing entrepreneurs who can create assets to cater to the inbound tourists and the proceeds from bidding and continuing royalty will make up for the revenue for  the state. A remedial approach must look into the creation of entertainment friendly zones with relaxation on alcoholic beverages only in resorts or hotels with minimum number of rooms for a limited period of time annually .State mechanism with a robust machinery in place should strive to utilize the hospitable nature of the Nagas towards a single pointed agenda of building a tourism based economy with time bound targets and assessing its grassroots impact. A good law to promote tourism is the first step towards achieving economic self sufficiency, the Maldivian model of tourism with local tweaking can work wonders in Nagaland.

Though the Hornbill festival is the flagship festival of Nagaland and a growing one ,the time span of the festival itself is not enough to convert the state into a tourism hub, to be called as a tourism destination a state needs tourist related activities for a minimum of six months in a year .Inbound tourist  footfalls only for a period of ten days a year makes  it economically  unviable for the government and even the private players to set up assets like hotels only for ten days ,a short period of tourist footfalls also shuns people from taking up tourism based jobs in travel, ticketing and hospitality because there is no scope for perennial income throughout the year from  tourism related activities .Site selection and a diverse product mix assists in transforming tourism into an year long affair, as of now the strength of Nagaland tourism is promotion of people and its culture hinging on to which different niches  of tourism can be developed like adventure tourism, eco-tourism, farm tourism ,model mining tourism and even spiritual tourism! Specific locales in accessible districts shall be selected to develop itineraries and promote packages to gradually increase tourist traction into Nagaland. Proper site selection avoids resource wastage and imbalanced state spending in creating tourist infrastructure because after pinpointing the correct places to promote the limited resources at hand can be utilized to create road, power, and water supply and hotel network from the most populated city to the selected places of attraction. 

 
On the marketing front Nagaland has been even slower than the snail’s pace when it comes to vociferously promoting the state as a tourist haven and this is where it is hurting the sector the most. In electronic media, national and international tourism fairs held in the country the state has put up a meagre presence or almost none. States like Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya have aggressively campaigned through different forms of media to court tourists, inaction at the marketing front could be because of a lack of a coherent policy on tourism and voidance of investment in priority areas like marketing .Tourism promotion is the most important and a continuous endeavour for long term success of a tourism destination ,targeted marketing and Public relations exercise increase inbound visitors year on year ,the state needs to come out with detailed marketing plans with earmarked funds and measurable results, Participation in international tourism fairs outside of the North East region brings instant visitors as there are on the spot deals between buyers and sellers in these events where in the tour operators from Nagaland can sell their packages to larger Indian and International travel companies who have all the contingencies for sales and a ready client base. A lean 20 crore purse for promotion annually is sufficient for a 100-150 crore tourism industry.

Tourism industry can only be said to be holistic if it makes the locals the immediate beneficiary of the economic impact, training the state’s human resource in tourism and travel related skills will lead to immediate cessation of unemployment and growth of entrepreneurship .When majority of the youth are skilled for catering to tourists it adds up to the brand value of the state as a tourist destination ,studies point out with an yearly footfall of 3 million visitors the number of people employed directly in service industry is 2lakh ,with the gradual increase in number of visitors there will be a constant demand for trained youths in hospitality ,travel and ticketing etc then the institutes which provide skill development training can pitch in with the steady supply of skilled manpower to run the fledgling tourism industry of Nagaland. Tourism can become the strongest spoke in the economic wheel of Nagaland on the road to revenue generation and self sufficiency, the ideating think tank of the administration has to work the extra hour to make it happen