Dying tourism in Manipur and a lesson from Himachal Pradesh

Mohendro Nandeibam
Contd from previous issue
Sitting at home, we sell the beauty of our culture, the beauty of uprightness, the beauty of decency and discipline, the beauty of hospitality and the attraction of humble simplicity. One of the key factors which enabled Philippines to receive millions of tourists in 2006 was the spontaneous warmth and the heartwarming friendliness.
The clean and peaceful environment, hospitable people, clean administration and the mantra; ‘your expenditure is my income,’ faithfully worked together to ensure the astounding success of tourism in Himachal Pradesh. Of course, the State is endowed with beautiful streams, sacred shrines and historical monuments. Excellent public utility services, roads communication networks, clean toilets at bus stands, restaurants and petrol pumps are some of the deserving features of Himachal Pradesh. There are about 2604 hotels with about 70869 bed facilities and about 787 home stay units in the State. Priority, not on paper, but actually in action on the ground is the hallmark of tourism in the State. Now additional incentives are being made available to increase the contribution of tourism to the State more than 7 percent of the Gross State Domestic Product.
The general trend of tourism in Manipur is not so encouraging. The tourist arrival has increased from 1,20,835 in 2006-07 to 1,78,941 of which 12,102 only were foreigners. The average duration of stay of domestic tourist was 1.22 nights while that of foreigners 2.44 nights. Most of them are students and researchers. Business and social tourism was extremely low.
Now a few questions have been raised in Manipur. What are the benefits of tourism in terms of income and employment that accrue to the local economy ? What is the value of tourism to the local enterprises ? What is the attitude of people towards tourists and tourism ? What are induced social changes in the area ? What prevents them to get willingly involved in the initiative ? How far tourism can address the problem of overuse and indiscriminate destruction of natural resources by the poor people ?
The socio-economic changes that take place in and around a particular tourist spot differ from spot to spot, place to place. The changes at Keibul Lamjao, Moirang, are not the same at Andro, Imphal East. To produce a realistic Vision Document of Tourism one has to take into account the changes that have taken place at all tourist spots in the State. Otherwise we go by the same beaten track, while a dynamic economy demands a new line of action in the light of a number of changes.
The fine weather behavior, natural beauty and scenic splendor are exceptional gifts for tourism in Manipur. The challenge is how to capitalize them to position Manipur as the most preferred State in the world. The success stories of China, Philippines and Himachal Pradesh could be a Guide Book.
One thing is clear that the arrival of visitors would be significantly increased in immediate future. The air connectivity has been improved with seven flights a day. Rail connectivity is going to be operational up to Imphal by 2024. Attempt is being made to improve National Highways with the expansion to 4-lane. As part of Act East Policy of India Moreh is going to be International Commercial Hub. Besides One Economic India (One Tax, One Market, One India) encourages the unfettered movement of goods, services, capital and people. Of course,we may face a difficult choice between National Ambition and Regional Aspiration.
Pre-plan and prior arrangement with mature guidance is the need of the hour. First, Tourism Development Committee (P-32) may be constituted to aid and advise Government on strategic policy matters from time to time. It is, it appears, long overdue.
Second, Evaluation of all Tourists Projects in the State should be carried out by an independent competent body of experts. The findings would certainly help us prepare a better home-work for a brighter future in this age of cut-throat competition.
Third, Manipur Tourism Vision 2030 should be prepared with the objective of contributing 2% of State Gross Domestic Productand 10% of Employment to redefine Tourism in Manipur as Third Sector,next to Agriculture and Industry.

The writer, was a member of State Planning Board, Manipur