Minister E. E. Pangteang addresses the staff of Department of Tourism at the conference hall of the Department on April 1 in Kohima.
KOHIMA, April 1 (MExN): Minister, Tourism, Art and Culture and Election E. E. Pangteang made his maiden official visit to the Department of Tourism and addressed the staff in the conference hall of the Department on April 1.
“It is indeed a great privilege to share a few words after assuming office as the minister-in- charge of the esteemed Tourism department,” he said adding: “I am emphasizing the importance of the department not because of being the Minister-in-charge but because it holds the key to employment generation in Nagaland.”
He stressed that "if we proceed rightly and systematically, it would solve a great deal of our employment problems where our youths will be gainfully self-employed. Hence it is very important that we facilitate and create avenues to avail this increasing opportunity for the youths.”
The Minister laid emphasis that Nagaland has vast potential for development and promotion of eco-tourism and added: “We only need to mobilize and communicate with the village authorities concerned and NGOs to identify the tourist spots and destinations.”
Pangteang lauded the Department’s efforts in the increase inflow of tourists to the state in the last few years.
“The annual Hornbill Festival at Kisama has also reached international standards. This is an important landmark achievement in the Tourism industry of Nagaland," he said. He further congratulated and appreciated the "sincere" effort and progress contributed by the department. "I’m confident that under the able leadership of our Commissioner and Secretary and with your full support and cooperation, there would be marked improvement in all the functions of the department.”
He also appealed to the Tourism Engineering Wing to maintain quality control and regular supervision of works to achieve the desired quality of the infrastructures in the state. Pangteang also called upon all the staff of the department to inculcate work Culture and renew their dedication to serve the people better and reminded the staff that ‘Government Work is God’s Work.’ He also sought the support and cooperation for a “good team work” to achieve the common goal of making Nagaland a reputed tourist destination in the days to come.
I Himato Zhimomi, Commissioner and Secretary who also addressed the meeting said that our main focus and target should be on the domestic tourists. “As compared to five million foreign tourists who visit India, there are 500 million mainland Indian domestic tourists who are touring within the country,” he said.
The other point he emphasized was that there should be a cleanliness drive as "our towns and cities are less clean than our villages" and they are becoming garbage dumps, and such a drive should start with tourism department.
He also stressed on the importance of cuisine and said that the food served should be clean, hygienic and palatable to the tastes of tourists who visit the state. The meeting was chaired by P. Angami, Addl. Director, Tourism. Er Toba Angami, E.E. Tourism and K.T. Thomas, Jt. Director, briefly highlighted about the engineering wing and the status of Tourism in Nagaland in general respectively.
