IMPHAL, May 27: The time the state government taps its rich tourist potential and subsequently realised infrastructural development at major tourist spots, tourists from all over the world will flock to Manipur and other northeastern states as their primary destination, said David K Zote, the Joint Registrar of Manipur University.
He made the statement while speaking at the inaugural function of a two-day regional seminar on tourism prospect in the hill districts of Northeast India which was organised by MUTSU at Tribal Research Institute (TRI) conference hall, Chingmeirong today.
Giving his chief guest speech David shared that he had visited several prominent tourist spots, both inside and outside the nation, in the recent past. Places like Tokyo and Dubai lure tourist but they are expensive and the landscapes are artificial, he said, adding that the naturally endowed tourist spots in Manipur are many times better than the famous cities.
Shimla is well known place of India for tourism but Shillong had better attraction values because of the old British styled leaved buildings and scenic beauties of landscapes, he stated. He also enlightened about the experience in Mizoram tourism recounting that foreign tourists outnumber the domestic tourists.
In the context of Manipur we are the gateway to Southeast Asian countries and tourist promotion activities will be taken up in the hills areas under Act East Policy in near future.
Prof Lal Dena said that the NE states have lots of potential in tourism but government is yet to mobilize its resources till date. Now the most attractive and favourite areas of tourism is rural tourism which guarantees the breathing of fresh air and breakfast. We need to promote it in our state too, he stated.
World most popular tourist sites included Malaysia, South Korea, Switzerland etc but NE state have similar feature but due to lack of infrastructural development the optimal potential could not be tapped. The mountains, landscape, lakes that we have are much better than those in foreign countries. But till today no positive action has taken up to develop tourism in Manipur and other NE states, he said.
Dr Thathang Vaiphei gave the keyenote address at the inaugural function for the seminar.
