| Northeast tourism ministers to meet Monday |
| Agartala, July 2 (IANS) The creation of a North-East Tourism Development Fund (NETDF) and the involvement of the North Eastern Council (NEC) in a bigger way are likely to
dominate a meet of tourism ministers from eight northeast states that begins Monday. Convened at the initiative of Tourism and Culture Minister Ambika Soni, the meeting begins in Assam's main city of Guwahati. "The meet will discuss the status of various tourism projects sanctioned by the government for northeastern states, issues concerning project formulation, implementation besides encouragement to the private sector and local entrepreneurs for development of tourism infrastructure," Santanu Das, Tripura's information and tourism director told IANS. The meeting will also discuss various package tours and the functioning of hotel management and food craft institutes in the northeast. Issues relating to restricted area permit, protected area permit, inner line permit, now effective in the region, review of the working of the North-East Shilpagram at Dimapur and progress of the multipurpose cultural complex scheme of the culture ministry will also be taken up, another senior official said. "The tourism ministers will also discuss the status of northeast cultural festivals, infrastructure development and a strengthening programme for the Raja Rammohan Roy Library Foundation," he said. Tripura Tourism Minister Anil Sarkar, who will not attend the meeting due to ill health, said the northeastern region requires an aggressive marketing strategy to promote its vast potential for adventure and eco-tourism, water sports, tribal and ethnic artefacts and cultures. A peace process initiated by the central government has already started showing its results on the tourists' inflow as the number of sightseers visiting this part of the country is gradually swelling over the past four years. Tourists have started visiting popular spots like Shillong in Meghalaya and Kaziranga in Assam. Visitors are also using the Assam corridor for travelling to the adjoining states of Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Manipur. New, sprawling airports have replaced the outdated structures at Imphal, Aizawl, Silchar, Agartala and Dimapur. In Nagaland, night buses are plying daily without any incident, the official added. |
| Turmoil in Assam hits Bhutan tourism: minister |
| Guwahati, June 27 (IANS) Bhutan has said the disturbed security situation in neighbouring India has severely affected its fledgling tourism industry. Bhutan's Trade and Industry Minister Lyonpo Yeshey Zimba told the ongoing session of the National Assembly or parliament in Thimpu that tourists were scared to visit some parts of the kingdom because of trouble in the neighbouring Indian state of Assam. "The security situation in the east had eased after the militants were flushed out of the country, but tourists still felt insecure to visit the east because of the frequent security turmoil in Assam," the minister was quoted as saying by the government-run newspaper Kuensel. Hundreds of Indian separatists from Assam had set up bases in Bhutan for close to a decade before the Himalayan kingdom in 2003 launched a massive military crackdown and demolished the rebel camps. Assam is home to more than half-a-dozen separatist groups with demands ranging from secession to autonomy. The state is frequently rocked by violence - the latest wave of rebel bombings earlier June killed eight people and wounded nearly 100. The state shares a 266 km unfenced border with Bhutan. "Constant security problems in Assam were seen as one of the main causes that choked the growth of tourism in the east," the minister said. Bhutan's Home and Cultural Affairs minister Lyonpo Jigmi Thinley told parliament that the government was trying to ensure safety of the tourists visiting the eastern region, famous for its exotic handloom products and some of the kingdom's ancient Buddhist religious sites. "Most of the tourists visiting Bhutan were from Japan, America and other European countries where their governments discouraged their citizens from visiting risky areas. A small incident could affect our country's entire tourism industry," Thinley said. Bhutan in 2005 received 13,643 tourists - a 48 percent jump compared to 2004. Tourism is one of the major revenue earners for Bhutan, also known as the Land of the Thunder Dragon. In 2005, the country earned $18.5 million from the tourism sector and is targeting some 15,000 tourists by the end of 2006. |
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