Shillong, July 18: Despite recording a significant increase in the number of tourists visiting Meghalaya with over 18 lakh footfalls as on date, the state is however faced with a huge gap between demand and supply of vehicles to cater to the growing demand.

This was revealed by Tourism Minister Paul Lyngdoh on Thursday after chairing a review meeting to discuss on how to facilitate better livelihood opportunities for local tourist taxi drivers following the All Khasi Meghalaya Tourists Taxi Association (AKMTTA)’s demand to ban vehicles from outside the state from taking passengers from Shillong to different tourist spots in the state.

Lyngdoh has decided to soon call a meeting with the different tourists and operators associations and other stakeholders to discuss and address the various related issues even as he ruled out that there is no question of banning vehicles from outside the state.

Accordingly, the transport department has been asked to provide data on the actual number of vehicles with Meghalaya registration before the meeting, which is proposed to be held in the next 10-12 days.

Addressing the media, Lyngdoh said as of date the tourist footfall in Meghalaya would have crossed 18 lakhs. However, there is a gap between demand and supply of vehicles for ferrying tourists to their favourite tourist destinations.

“The demand for vehicles is steadily on the increase and the supply has more or less remained stagnant and because of initiatives like the PRIME tourism vehicles, we are trying to match and meet up with the demand,” he said.

Stating that there is no question of banning vehicles from Assam and other states, the minister said, “You have to keep in mind that these transporters also have what is known as a national permit either national permit or permit of at least three states. There are legal issues involved but what I am saying is that rather than focusing on just the problems being raised we also have to look at solutions. For instance, this is a demand driven economy and you can’t close all doors when our own operators are not able to meet up with the demand for accommodation and also transport facility to the various tourist destinations.”

“As I quoted, the number of footfalls has increased whereas the number of vehicles has more or less remained stagnant. We will also have to address this from the tourism department, we have just introduced the PRIME vehicles but we certainly have to increase the fleet of vehicles,” he asserted.

The minister also emphasized that the state government has to ensure that “any measures that we take should not have negative repercussion because it is not only tourists from Assam, who travel to Shillong and other tourist destinations but people from Meghalaya also travel to parts of Assam, they visit their parks, so any system that we device has to be done in a manner that will not have a negative impact on the tourism industry of Meghalaya.”

With that in mind, Lyngdoh informed that the transport department has been directed to provide the actual number of vehicles catering to tourists in the state before holding the meeting with all stakeholders.

“We have assigned duty to the transport department to give us the correct inputs on the actual number of cars, buses and other modes of transport that are currently in operation and the number of vehicles with Meghalaya registrations. On the basis of those inputs, we will then call for this general meeting involving the transporters, tour operators mainly and separately with the hotel owners and owners of homestays and whoever are part of the tourism industry. The meeting will be held within the next 10-12 days,” he said.

Further, Lyngdoh said lots of demand can be raised but how practical is that demand is what the government has to see.

“Now we live in a digital age where you don’t need to physically book a vehicle, you do it online and there are people even in Delhi, who provide that kind of service to connect the visitors straight from Guwahati and then to Meghalaya. So a lot of these issues are in the realm of what I would call intangible,” he stated.

On the demand for Meghalaya to adopt the Sikkim model, Lyngdoh said Assam is the entry point to Meghalaya.

“We are looking at Assam as the entry point to Meghalaya. They have the airport, they have the railway station and are in a position to also put at risk the services currently being provided by Assam and Meghalaya vehicles plying to Assam and Meghalayans generally visiting Assam either as tourists or on grounds of health or of education. All these have ramifications and as a government, we have to act responsibly,” he maintained.

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