Shillong, Aug 24: Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma on Wednesday announced the calendar of events for the autumn and winter seasons to increase the inflow of tourists from across the globe to Meghalaya even as he informed that the government is proposing to spend between Rs 12 crore and Rs 15 crore in this regard.

Sangma also announced the government’s decision to inaugurate the long pending project – Hotel Crowborough, on September 7.

The events include Meghalaya International Film Festival, Shillong Autumn Festival, Hills Festival, Winter Tales, Me•Gong festival, Shillong Cherry Blossom Festival, Megha Kayak Fest, North East Olympic Games, Wangala, Boating Regatta, Nongkrem Dance among others.

“The purpose (of the announcement) was to gear up and to disperse the information and to let everybody know that we have well planned events for the autumn and winter seasons to ensure we can attract more and more tourists so that they can make plans to come to the state and enjoy these different festivals and programmes (that are lining up),” Sangma told reporters.

“The budget for all these events would touch roughly between Rs 12 to 15 crore. We expect financial support from sponsors also but the impact of this as in the number of people coming in will be hundred times more than what it was before,” the chief minister added.

Tapping the huge opportunity in tourism

Stating that tourism has been one of the main service sector industries, Sangma said, “We have seen a large number of jobs being created through it and it is also a sector which has the potential of bringing huge revenue for the people as well for the state.”

“Tourism is definitely a sector we have been focusing on in the past and we realise that there is a huge opportunity for us to be able to package things in a much attractive manner and get much more output out of the different locations and different events that we can do. With that in mind, we have decided we should come up with a proper systematic calendar of events so that a tourist can easily identify and make a decision on where he or she would want to go.”

Recalling the adverse impact of the Covid pandemic has had on the tourism sector during the past two years, the chief minister however said tourism is now picking up and the response has been like never before as the state has a huge inflow of tourists.

“Hence, it is important for us that we are able to maximize the overall situation out here and get the maximum benefit for our hotels and tour operators and all the other stakeholders in the tourism sector,” he said.

Hotel Crowborough to be inaugurated on Sept 7

Meanwhile, chief minister informed that the new Taj Vivanta in the state, which is the Hotel Crowborough, will be inaugurated on September 7. “Finally, a project that has been lying and has been facing a lot of problems in the past 30 years and many decades…will be inaugurated in the city,” he said.

He further informed that very soon, the government will also be inaugurating the Courtyard Mariot adding “we are also in the process to ensure more and more hotels and other properties come up throughout the state and those projects are also in the pipeline.”

Mentionably, the construction of the Hotel Crowborough, located at Police Bazar, had started in 1986. But disputes and cases between the Meghalaya government and contractors, and other legal and security challenges meant that the hotel construction remained stalled for much of the time, taking almost 36 years to finally finish its construction.

Focus on homestays

Sangma said the government has been focusing a lot on homestays. According to him, the Meghalaya government is providing one of the best homestay programmes in the entire country by giving up to 50-70% of the financial benefits to the beneficiaries. About 300 applicants have been received in the last few months.

“Once they are able to move forward in the next 6-8 years they will be paying 5000-6000 per month in terms of the bank amount that has to be given back. We expect a huge response through this. We hope that we are able to create 1500-2000 rooms just from the homestay programmes and may be even more,” he said while adding that the government is also working very hard to ensure larger and better and many more hotel properties come up in the state.