“Nowhere
in the world, you can ever find even if you scour through life.”
-
Lakshminath Bezbaruah
Lying between 89°.50′
to 96°.10′ E. longitude and 24°.30′ to 28°.40′ N. latitude spreading over an
geographical area of 78,438 sq. km, Assam is ‘the Shangri-La of the
North-Eastern India’ situated at the foothills of eastern Himalayas and falls
in the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot. Assam, with its sprawling tea gardens
and unending stretches of paddy fields interspersed with groves of coconut,
areca nuts, and banana trees, is one of the biggest States in the North
East of India and the most accessible. It is a land that could mesmerize
you with its mythology and magic; its flora and fauna; its diverse culture and
the sheer variety in its population.
Frolic
of apes, graceful elephants, fluttering of wings & singing of birds,
migratory birds flying into the hills, the majestic tiger enforcing his
authority, all invite you to carry back home a little what the heaven is made
of. This ancient kingdom of the Ahoms having breathtaking scenic beauty; mighty
waterways; fertile valleys; dense forest; lofty hills and lush tea gardens,
fascinated the rest of the world since the days of Hiuen-Tsang. This highland
of red river and blue hills having bountiful natural resources in its womb; has
a great potential of tourism as it possesses various historical monuments (like
Ranghar, Talotal Ghar, Kareng Ghar etc.), wildlife sanctuaries and World
Heritage Sites (like Kaziranga and Manas National Park), natural beauties
(hills, Brahmaputra, Barak and its tributaries), spiritual and pilgrim sites
(Satras of Majuli, Barpeta and Nagaon), industrial areas (Tea, petroleum and
mining industries) and sites for adventure and golf courses. Despite of
presence of such marvellous resources for tourism somewhere Assam is lacking
behind the other states of India due to its improper, unplanned tourism policy
and very limited availability of funds is constantly acting as resistance to
create an investor friendly atmosphere to boost Assam tourism. To overcome such
resistant factors, to maximize the footfalls to Assam making it a tourist hub
of India and to make it a popular destination of world; we need to act in a
planned manner so that we can bring an investor friendly atmosphere in Assam.
For that we have to follow some steps that have been described below in a
detail manner that will help in bringing the exposure need to boost the tourism
industry of Assam:
·
Well maintenance of Resources:
As
described above Assam has great varieties of resources for the tourism
industry. From ancient historical monuments to wildlife sanctuaries, from
pilgrim sites to adventure sites, from tea industries to mining and petroleum
industries, from its diverse culture to its diverse eco-systems, this highland
has some great scopes or resources for tourism. But these resources need a
proper maintenance. We often encounter examples regarding the damage of these
resources due to improper maintenance like the Satras of Majuli, Monuments of
Ahoms present in Sivasagar like Tolatol Ghar, Siva Doul etc. Mainly flood
occurred during monsoons effect these resources including the bio-reserves
present in Assam. The biggest problem regarding the maintenance of the
resources in Assam is the illegal occupation of the bio-reserves which is
severely affecting the eco system. So the Government, NGOs and local bodies
should emphasize the matter of well maintenance of the resources of tourism so
that it catalyses the development of tourism in Assam.
·
Development
of Infrastructure: Though Assam has resources but it is not infrastructural
well developed. To create an investment friendly atmosphere and to attract the
private sectors it has to be copped up with recent technologies and a well
developed infrastructure. Government should give importance in developing the
infrastructural facilities including roads and communication system as the
private sectors will always look for a profitable venture. Developed infrastructure
always ensures an investment friendly atmosphere and will increase the tourist
traffic to Assam. Government should primarily focus on the promotion of tourism
and for strengthening up the infrastructural environment that would be
attracting the investors to the state by taking help of some centrally funded
scheme like NESIDS. Government of Assam may also submit proposals or appeal to
the Central Government to get assistance from “World Bank Groups” for their
investment to Assam at a minimum interest rate so that the infrastructural
problem and fund problem may be overcome.
·
Creating an “ease of business
doing” environment and providing relaxation and subsidization by modifying the
Tourism Policy of Assam: Government should be able to
provide an “ease of business doing” environment for the investment sectors.
They should ensure the private companies, MNCs the profits of investment in
Assam along with motivating the entrepreneurship of the local individuals by
creating an ease of business doing environment by exempting some amount of tax.
Ease of doing environment facilitates properly to the investors for better and
simpler regulations for businesses and stronger protection of property rights.
Government should provide some relaxation and subsidy to the private sectors so
that they can set up and make profits at initial stage. In this case the recent
tourism policy will certainly help to make Assam a popular destination of world
as it is providing single window clearance system and different amount of
subsidy for the film industry who come and shoot in the state; like there will
be an additional 10 per cent grant if the film's storyline is on Assam's
culture, tourism and heritage, while another 10 per cent rebate will be offered
if more than 50 per cent of the entire shooting is done in the state. This type
of relaxation and subsidy will certainly attract the film industry to work in
Assam and will give a exposure to Assam ensuring maximum footfalls.
·
Proper promotional channels for the
campaign of Assam Tourism: Assam is the gateway to the North
Eastern states. Assam needs some proper promotional channels to reach the voice
of the natural beauties of it to the world tourist. It needs a great amount of
exposure. The Assam government has allocated Rs 15 crore to promote tourism
in the state under ‘Awesome Assam’ brand focusing on the
one-horned rhino; Assam Tea and the mighty Brahmaputra taking India’s
International star Priyanka Chopra as the brand ambassador. Moreover the Govt.
should be able to attract the youths as they love adventure and always want to
explore the things. For that tourism needs a social media platform. There is a
need to express the natural beauty of Assam in social media like facebook,
twitter, youtube etc. and by maintaining a proper and detail website containing
the information of tourist attractions present here. Carnivals and festivals
like Namami Brahmaputra or Namami Barak can also attract the youth tourists to
come here and enjoy the adventurous ride of the beauty of Assam and to explore
it. But it will always need a proper way of promotion so that the tourist gets
easily attracted towards this beautiful land.
·
Controlling the insurgencies: The
problem of insurgency has become the stumbling block in the course of
development of Assam. It founded every development strategy and hampered all
the development work. Kidnapping, extortion, killing, bandh, strikes, and
curfews have become the order of the day. The foreign and the domestic tourists
consider it risky to visit this part of the country, in view of the prevailing
law and order situation. The general impression has been that any foreign or
domestic tourist could be a soft target of the insurgents. This type of
incidents happened some days back in Kaziranga National Park where some
tourists were likely to be affected by the insurgents which was almost likely
to affect the tourism in Assam. So the government should be able to control
such insurgencies to boost tourism in Assam and will create a more investment
friendly atmosphere.
·
Development
of human resources by providing them training: Assam government should give
importance to the development of the human resources by arranging training and
workshops so that they can provide good hospitality behaviours to the tourists.
Assam virtually does not have any trained guides in important places of tourist
attraction. Consequently, as the tourists arrive at such a place there is
hardly anyone to satisfy the inquisitiveness of the tourists. The Department of
Tourism should initiate a programme to train tourist guides with more ethical
and moral values by providing them a more hospitality behaviour. A good
hospitality towards the tourists may act as a catalyst to boost the tourism. For
the development of human resources government can also recognize
and encourage excellence in tourism services and tourism products in the state.
Undoubtedly, Assam has
a great amount of resources for the tourism industry and a great potential for
investment friendly atmosphere but it is still lacking behind the other states only
due to the less exposure or promotion to the world. If the factors that has
been discussed above can be improve in a proper way there will arise a vibrant
scope of enrichment of the tourism industry in Assam and will not only make a
friendly atmosphere to invest but also will provide a great amount of benefits
to the both public cum private sectors. These can make a positive step towards
making Assam a popular sought after destinations of the world. Our continuous
efforts and true participation for an investment friendly atmosphere can make
the tourists more interesting towards Assam. Because as the tagline of says
“Once you visit Assam, It stays with you forever”.
