Assam govt to showcase tourism potential to Delhi tour operators

Guwahati: The Assam government will soon host a familiarisation tour for tour operators from New Delhi. The tour will aim to help the tour operators understand Assam’s tourism potential and make packages tailored to the needs of tourists.

It will also help to promote Assam as a tourist destination and strengthen cooperation with the tourism partners.

Notably, Assam tourism minister Jayanta Malla Baruah met leading tour operators from New Delhi at the national capital on Wednesday evening to promote the state as a major tourist destination.

As many as 25 Delhi-based tour operators, travel agents and travel journal houses gathered at the conference hall of Assam House to prepare attractive packages for promoting the state in a big way.

The tourism minister asked the tour operators to work in tandem with the Assam tourism department and other stakeholders to promote the tourism sector, which has huge potential with its rich culture, traditions, flora and fauna, and to make the state a tourist destination.

Baruah urged the tour operators to come up with mutually beneficial strategies and attractive packages to cater to the taste of tourists visiting the state from different destinations.

“It augurs well that the leading tour operators have evinced keen interest in the tourism industry in Assam,” said a tourism official, adding that they are happy that tourism has been declared as an industry in Assam and that a tourist-friendly atmosphere prevails in Assam.

Emerging from the meeting which lasted for more than an hour, minister Baruah told media persons that the meeting with leading tour operators from Delhi was convened at a very short notice and that the response was overwhelming.

The minister disclosed that there has been a whopping increase of tourist footfalls of 573 percent in regard to domestic tourists and 783 percent of foreign tourists to Assam in 2023. The improvement of the law-and-order situation during the past two years, with no protests and bandhs taking place, improved infrastructure and the launch of new branded hotels, including five-star hotels and resorts in Guwahati, Kaziranga, Manas and elsewhere has attracted tourists so far.

Baruah said that the overall feedback from the tour operators and those who visited Assam was very encouraging and that it would provide the much-needed impetus to the tourism sector.

“More than the roadshows, what I feel is that today’s one-to-one meeting with tour operators has been more impactful and fruitful with valuable feedback and suggestions received from them, which will enable us to make the tourism sector in the state more vibrant and resilient in the days ahead,” he said.

The minister said that the Assam government has been taking a slew of initiatives to promote tourism such as organising roadshows in metropolitan cities and taking part in marts and fairs in the country and abroad.

The minister disclosed that the government is keen to revamp the Assam Tourist Information Centre at Connaught Place in order to make it more functional so that it can gear up to promote tourism in Delhi-NCR.

Earlier, accompanied by officials of the tourism department, Malla Baruah took stock of the facilities at the centre and also interacted with the officials and employees to get a firsthand account of the problems confronting them and how to resolve them in the right earnest.

Later taking to Twitter, he said, “In a dedicated effort to enhance Assam’s tourism industry from all angles, interacted with over 20 esteemed stakeholders, including tour operators, travel agents and travel journal houses. By seeking their valuable insights and inputs, we aim to implement comprehensive measures that will lead to the overall improvement of tourism in Assam.”

Some of the tour operators presented their views, saying that the congenial atmosphere prevailing in Assam would go a long way in promoting tourism in a big way in the state.

They pointed out that barring some incidents of lack of professionalism of drivers to handle tourists, the rest of the sector is quite up to the mark.

Responding to the feedback, the minister apprised them that upskilling and training of drivers at the LGBI Airport has been done and more of such training sessions would be undertaken to infuse a sense of professionalism.

The director of Noble House Tours Pvt. Ltd, Naveen Jain said, “A coordinated approach is needed among all the North Eastern States to boost the tourism sector in the region as a whole.”

Jain said the tourism industry in Assam in particular and the Northeast in general should focus on niche products with emphasis on quality tourism, not quantity tourism.

“Cultural tourism, historical, religious tourism, wildlife tourism, adventure tourism will play a major role to develop and bring in revenue for the state and the region,” said a lady operator and advocated establishing a common platform of all eight states of the region to ‘market together as one brand in both national and international travel fairs and festivals.’

Earlier, the tourism officials gave a first-hand insight of facilities and development of infrastructure to the tour operators.

“The rich cultural and natural heritage of Assam has aptly become our unique selling point,” said an official.

The officials exuded optimism that the meet would ‘create a stronger, healthier relation in business environment and for the growth of tourism in the state in the right manner’.

Describing tour operators as ‘image-builders of the country,’ deputy director, Assam Tourist Information Centre, New Delhi, Jayanta Sarma said, “The purpose behind the meet with the leading tour operators of Delhi was to create better coordination and understanding, building relationship, promotion of the state of Assam to the rest of India and outside world, and doing business through B2B.”

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