Tourism & Hospitality Committee of PHDCCI organized its 16th webinar under Border Tourism Webinar Series on 21 January 2022 focusing on Baksa District for the promotion of Border Tourism in Assam. The webinar was supported by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India.
Ms. Rupinder Brar (IRS), Additional Director General, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, highlighted that the last few years have been a period of discovery for the Indian tourists to look within and explore their own country. This also encourages us to bring the lesser known destinations of India to all of you under ‘Dekho Apna Desh’ campaign. She said that making the right itineraries is important connecting two or three different terrains that can provide huge value addition in terms of Cross-Border Tourism further enhancing the experience of a tourist.
Ms. Brar emphasized that there is a need for capacity building and skill development as it will help to scale up the quality of human resources while creating employment opportunities for the locals. Other areas where the capacity building is required are for homestay owners, service providers which need both centre and state intervention.
While giving an overview on the Baksa District, Mr. Aayush Garg (IAS), Deputy Commissioner – Baksa District, Government of Assam, mentioned that the district has lot of tourism potential and advantages as it has a long border line stretching approximately 45 kms with Bhutan. Crossing the border is also a smooth process as there are three entry gates to Bhutan which can be easily accessed by showing a valid Indian passport. The district is completely safe for tourists and has well developed road infrastructure in place and accommodation facilities including 3 to 4 star properties.
Mr. Suresh Kumar, Commandant – Guwahati Frontier, Border Security Force (BSF), mentioned that for promotion of Border Tourism in the North East, we must give employment opportunities to locals and carefully select areas that are well connected. There are still many areas in the North East region that require significant focus on enhancing their connectivity and infrastructure. Despite being a border district, Baksa remains a very peaceful and stable destination and therefore is a favourable option for tourists.
Giving a detailed presentation on the tourism products of Assam, Ms. Moitreyee Das, Deputy Director – Tourism, Government of Assam, said that with the third wave of the pandemic still looming at large, the state will have to strategize and start intra state as well as intra continental travel. She further said that development of Assam through the ‘Look East’ and ‘Act East’ policies of the Government of India is the need of the hour and the stakeholders of the tourism sector has to play a proactive role. It is imperative to establish a smooth tourist corridor to boost tourism and benefit trade linkages between Assam and the ASEAN countries, she added.
Mr. Saurabh Rishi, Joint Adviser – Aspirational Districts Programme, NITI Aayog, informed that Baksa district has done quite well in terms of improving various indicators relating to socio-economic development such as health and nutrition, education, agriculture, financial inclusion and basic infrastructure. Many of these indicators are directly linked to tourism development like road and digital connectivity, sanitation and drinking water facilities, skill development among others. Therefore, improvement of these indicators also improves the overall tourism potential of a district.
Mr. Debajit Kumar Borah, President, Tour Operators Association of Assam (TOAA), said that border districts must refrain from being only a transit point and further focus on becoming a tourist destination. Network is an area that requires urgent attention for promotion of stronger connectivity and integration.
Mr. Vishwanath Goenka, Advisor, Hotel & Restaurant Association of Assam (HRAA), informed that after the second wave of Covid, big flow of tourists started visiting the north-eastern areas. With such influx of tourists, the prospect of development in the north-eastern regions has grown exponentially.
Mr. Pawan S. Jain, Chair – Tourism & Hospitality Committee, PHDCCI, said that Border Tourism lets us explore the places where one can almost see the boundary disappear into another country. PHDCCI is committed to create such meaningful platforms to do its bit in enabling all the parameters of the tourism industry to grow and flourish further.
While welcoming the delegates, Mr. Saurabh Sanyal, Secretary General, PHDCCI, mentioned that tourism is considered to be the most prominent and convenient industry for the development of remote, peripheral and rather rural border landscapes. The border areas of all the States and Union Territories are rich in natural and fabricated tourism potentials. Through all these programmes organized under the Border Tourism Webinar Series, it is evident that there is huge scope for development of Border Tourism in the country.
Mr. Rajan Sehgal, Co-Chair – Tourism & Hospitality Committee, PHDCCI, proposed the formal vote of thanks. The webinar was moderated by Dr. Yogesh Srivastav, Assistant Secretary General, PHDCCI and received participation of senior government officials, travel agents, tour operators, hoteliers, tour guides, airline professionals, travel associations and students from the travel and hospitality institutes.