Tourism and Northeast India
Let us look at India and North East at large, along with international tourism. The figure of tourist arrivals during 1995-2003 in North East looks quite impressive. During this period of time, North East alone welcomed two million visitors
“If we were to look over the whole world to find out the country most richly endowed with all the wealth, power and beauty that nature can bestow—in some parts a very paradise on earth—I should point to India. If I were asked under what sky the human mind has most fully developed some of its choicest gifts, has deeply pondered over the greatest problems of life and has found solution of those who have studied Plato and Kant— I should point to India.”
TRAVEL IS an ancient phenomenon in human history. From the very earliest historical period, travel has had a fascination for man. Travel in the past has been an unconscious and rather a simple affair. The traveller of the past was basically a merchant, a pilgrim, a scholar in search of ancient text and even a curious wayfarer looking forward to new exciting experiences. Especially, trade and commerce as the strongest force made people travel to distant lands in order to seek fortunes, sometimes at the cost of life of the traveller. If we go back to the third century A.D. since the first exploration of Alexander the great or only 700 years since Marco Polo and their amazing, exhilarating explorations crossing many lands, we find sensational and fascinating account of these great persons.
Max Mueller.
Tourism as we understand the term today is of relatively modern origin, which resulted due to the mass character from the travel undertaken in the past. Travels like pleasure travel, religious travel/pilgrimage, the grand tour, origin of the concept of annual holidays, industrial revolution, rail transport, sea transport, paid holidays and mass tourism, effect of the great World War-II on transport system, road transport, advent of the jet travel, advent of the high speed trains and buses and the increasing consciousness among the people can be recorded as the ingredients of present day tourism. Tourism is not only a pleasure oriented journey, it has a deep and relatively sensitive role in the world economy and political state of affairs. It has boomed rapidly since the end of the World War-II. Both domestic and international tourism reached an unexpected height after the World War ended in the year 1945. The report prepared by the United Nations of the number of tourist arrivals in 10 years between 1955-65 in some 65 countries has gone up from 51 million to 157 million. This was however only a beginning in this regard. In 1989, USA, Germany, UK, France, Canada, Australia, Hong Kong, Greece, Italy, Switzerland, Mexico and Austria represented the main 13 tourist generating countries accounting for some two third of all international tourist arrivals in the world. France and USA accounted for more than one third of the world’s total tourist arrival. The reason for this were prosperity and enjoyed a high standard of living— the two main factors conductive to growth of tourism. The development in the modes of transport and communication was also witnessed in these countries more significantly. It is to be noted that tourism does not exist in isolation. The trend in growth of international tourism continued since the mid of 1960s. The three basic components that pave the way for tourism to flourish are— transport, locale and accommodation. According to Robinson, the attractions of tourism are, to a very large extent, geographical in their character. Location from various ways historic, pastoral and then accessibility are very much important. Because whether a place has or has not a coastal or inland position and the ease with which a given place can be reached matter a lot. The main tourist inventory may also be cultural, traditional, scenic beauty, entertainment etc. Furthermore, are we talking about the elements of tourism in addition to the basic components; there are certain elements or ingredients of tourism which predispose towards tourism development. The elements are— pleasing weather, scenic attractions, historical and cultural factors, accessibility, amenities and accommodation. While pilgrim tourism is a legacy reinforced by faith, the development of communications, transport and disposable income has infused the other interests. Let us look at India and North East at large, along with the international tourism. The figure of tourist arrival during 1995-2003 in North East looks quite impressive. During this period of time, North East alone welcomed two million visitors from across the globe. But when compared to the international record it is far too small fraction of 570 million who crossed the international borders as tourists. A moderately welcome development in international tourism in India in last five years has been the increase in business travel with its spin-off effects in upgradation of accommodation and introduction of new technology in communication and other services. Different travel agencies functioning as the conductors of tours are adding fuel to the rapid growth of tourism with different motives. The number tourists in Assam has increased in recent days due to the fact that the tourism department in Assam has been trying to enhance its performance with the support from the both state and the central government. Thus the sinequonon for tourism development in north east region and India at large is the political will and commitment on the part of leadership at the central, state and district level and association of the local people with a view of assuring them that tourism will in no way harm their interests. Far from it, tourism can be an instrument for improving the quality of life by protecting environment and providing gainful employment to the disadvantaged. So, the need of the hour is nothing but commitment towards the people, towards the country and in turn to the whole of the environment. Hopefully, this could be based on the agenda on tourism by the new government if it is inclined to show the much needed will to boost an industry that has come to be recognized for its key role in socio-economic development.
 | Previous Post |
Login
 Login through Social ID
|
