I have been an occasional visitor to Nagaland since the year 2000, first as a tourist, and then, after 2005, as a relative of an Angami family!
I live in a rural part of Wales, in the west of the UK, an area where tourism flourishes - my wife and I run a part-time ‘holiday cottage’ business providing accommodation to visitors who come to the area for its scenic beauty, wildlife and tranquility. The area where we live is known as ‘one of Britain’s breathing spaces’.......
I most recently came to Nagaland in mid-February, and during this visit have been to Kohima, Mokochung, Wokha, and Tuophema and I have trekked to Japfu peak twice and tomorrow I will visit the Dzukou Valley.
I feel compelled to write to your papers in the fervent hope that I can generate some interest and understanding regarding tourism development here.....First let me say that I believe that Nagaland has enormous potential as a tourist destination - it’s steeply jungled ridges and hills and excellent weather offer an abundance of trekking opportunities. Although wildlife is seriously depleted, with good governance and management this situation could be improved and utilised. And the history and culture of the area is of real and continued interest.
However, on this my latest visit, I witnessed much that concerns and depresses me; rampant uncontrolled development is rapidly destroying the beauty of your land, there appears to be no sense of civic pride (rubbish and litter are found everywhere), and individual tourism development projects are carried out with no regard to any overall development plan or policy.
Two examples of particular note are the newly constructed road from Jotsoma which terminates not far below Japfu Peak and the now seemingly abandoned Tourist Village in Phezou, Tuophema.
The Japfu road has wrought a huge swathe of destruction, destroying trees and cutting an ugly scar through what was previously a largely unspoilt area. Trekkers who visit Japfu do so to experience the jungle, the peace and quiet. Now the small trails that have been used since your forefathers days, offering interest and challenge, have been lost forever. The new road has changed the route from the North irrevocably and will, if anything, dissuade trekkers from visiting the peak as the journey is now a trudge up a steep muddy road, offering little of change or interest for the entire journey. What needs to be understood, is that it is the journey, not the destination that matters - tourists are just not attracted by this kind of development! At this, the height of your tourist season, I saw not one person on either of my treks.
It is three years since I visited the new Tourist village in Phezou, Tuophema. Yesterday, under a clear sky and in glorious sunshine the place had a desolate abandoned feel about it. On enquiry I was reliably informed that if attracts maybe a couple of dozen tourists a year! How much did it cost to build? How is it promoted? In 2000 I had the privilege to stay in the old Tourist village in the centre of Tuophema, and it was a vibrant busy place with opportunities to interact with the villagers and learn of the cultural history of the place.
If tourism in Nagaland is to really to become anything meaningful and lucrative there needs to be a joined-up approach to both development and thinking. My strongly held belief is that in-depth consultation needs to happen before more money is spent on projects that, in truth, are of little interest to visitors and, in my personal view, actually reduce the appeal of the area.
How much more useful would a fraction of the money spent on these ‘white elephants’ be if used for effective tourism development programmes such as management of the natural environment, way-marking of trails, awareness raising about litter, hunting or starting fires, wildlife restoration programmes, ‘ambassador’ programmes for local ‘home stay’ and hotel owners, training of tour guides, restauranteurs etc. etc.
Tourism at its best will help preserve your culture, your environment and your wildlife, bring notoriety and interest to your land, and is potentially a source of income for thousands of people. Use it or lose it!
