East calls for connectivity & promotion
A step-up in highways, infrastructure and campaigns to highlight the diversity of East and North East India are the need of the hour to sell the region, inform industry players.
Airline connectivity is by far the biggest challenge we face while promoting East India. Europe remains the single largest source market for inbound tourists and unfortunately there is no direct connectivity from Europe to East India ever since British Airways and Lufthansa have withdrawn services to Kolkata. Tourism infrastructure in the region is not at par with the rest of the country, but that is improving. The addition in the inventory of rooms in the first-class category at both Kolkata and Guwahati are certainly a step in the right direction. Cruise Tourism is expected to play a vital role in East India for which cruises are already plying on the Ganges and Brahmaputra.
There have been good efforts to promote destinations in the East and the government has been very pro-active in this regard but there must be an increased focus on reaching out to the right market. More leeway for development of infrastructure is required along with the construction of hotels. East India has not achieved its tourism potential despite its natural beauty, rich culture and heritage. A robust module and an effective consultation body needs to be in place for tourism to flourish – tourism requires all-year round, genuine effort to be able to reap its benefits.
Things have certainly improved because of the reinvented branding campaigns. Most often, foreign tourists have a particular notion of India that rarely goes beyond the Golden Triangle, Kerala or Goa. This is all because of aggressive branding in global markets. The East has so many things to offer that it is difficult to sell the region with just one iconic quality. Additionally, we need to sell the products, not the destination. For instance, not many people will know about Kalimpong but the keyword here is Himalayas – this is what needs to be promoted aggressively. Yes, there are other issues in terms of connectivity and infrastructure, but we need to use our limitations to our advantage.
It is sometimes difficult for us to sell the region to tourists as most are unaware of this region. Travellers only hear about the political unrest and the natural calamities prevailing in this region but the North East is much more than that – it has a distinctly different culture every 17 kms of your travel. You would find hills, snowclad Himalayas, beaches, dense mangroves, ethnic tribes, ancient Buddhist relics and many more making it a whole platter of different destinations. Apart from that, the road conditions are also not up to the mark and the connectivity between the states is not so smooth. However, the region is fairly well-connected by train and air.