GUWAHATI: The NE region, which boasts of its bountiful natural beauty, is less traversed by domestic and international tourists alike because of its geographical challenges restricting access to the region.
A survey done by Hotelivate, in collaboration with World Travel and Tourism Council – India Initiative (WTTC- II) for 2017, has positioned NE states at the bottom of its biennial state rankings, making the region the least favoured tourism destination.
According to the survey, Assam received 5,160,599 domestic and 12,685 foreign tourists last year. During the same period, Tamil Nadu received 34,38,12,413 domestic tourists, which is 66 times more than Assam. The southern state also received 47,21,978 foreign tourists in the same period. The exotically colourful Nagaland got the least number of domestic tourists (58,178), while Mizoram received the lowest number of foreign tourists – 942 to be precise.
The overall rankings were drawn by surveying the states in 11 parameters – state expenditure on tourism, number of tourist visits, number of branded hotel rooms, GSDP per capital, literacy, aircraft movement, ease of doing business, urbanization, road and rail network, urbanization, marketing campaigns – and some intangible aspects.
Sikkim has been placed at the 22nd position in the overall rankings among 30 states followed by Mizoram (23), Tripura (24), Assam (26), Nagaland (27), Manipur (28), Arunachal Pradesh (29) and Meghalaya at the bottom (30).
Source: TOI
