AIZAWL:
The Mizoram government is working closely with the Ministry of Tourism to formulate plans to bring about a strategic shift in the tourism scenario of the state in the post-Covid scenario.
“We have prepared a comprehensive recovery plan to rebuild destination Mizoram focusing on responsible and sustainable standards,” Mizoram Tourism Minister Robert Romawia Royte said during a roundtable discussion on ‘Untapped Eco-Tourism Potential’ at Aijal Club in Aizawl, on May 2.
The tourism minister also launched the Mizoram Tourism Department’s official portal – mizoramtourism.com – and an android and ios-based app, which can be downloaded from the newly launched portal. Detailed technical report on the new website and smartphone app was presented by a representative from the Mizoram State E-Governance Society.
Royte expressed his pleasure at the North East Festival being launched in Mizoram and the unique roundtable discussion on the subject of eco-tourism. He hoped that the comprehensive programme, under the initiative of the state and Centre, will help unlock the relatively unexplored eco-tourism potential of the Northeast, particularly in Mizoram.
Stressing on the need for promotion of responsible tourism, sustainable and responsible travel, the minister said that Mizoram’s Tourism Department had recently framed a policy, known as the Responsible Tourism Policy, 2020, to this effect.
Highlighting a few of the current efforts undertaken by the state government for development of tourism in Mizoram, Royte said that 83 tourist guides have successfully completed a training programme and a destination-based capacity building programme is being undertaken in six destinations across the state.
The department also plans to diversify markets and introduce niche products like wellness tourism, golf tourism, wedding tourism, MICE tourism, voluntourism etc., to tap the state’s robust domestic tourism market, he informed.
“We are also focusing on restoring travellers’ confidence and stimulate demand with clean and safe labels by encouraging the hospitality sector of the state to join the SAATHI Certification Program,” he added.
Being in the centre of one of the world’s richest biodiversity hotspots, blessed with rich and rare varieties of flora and fauna and ideal climatic conditions, the tourism minister hoped that Mizoram would soon become a favourite destination for tourists, both domestic and international, the minister elaborated.
The discussion was jointly organised by the state’s Tourism and Planning & Programme Implementation departments in collaboration with DoNER and the North Eastern Council as a part of the North East Festival under the ongoing Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav (AKAM).