Assam has tremendous strength of tourism attractions like scenic beauty, cultural variety, ethnic mixture, and diverse flora and fauna. Such wealth of tourism resources endows Assam with a comparative advantage over many other states.
Assam is endowed with plentiful natural and cultural resources that can form the basis for very lucrative tourism industry, creating employment and generating income not only in the urban centers but also in the rural areas. Yet for a variety of reasons this advantage has not brought for Assam the preeminent position that it deserves.
It is therefore imperative to give a dynamic thrust to tourism promotion and to chart out bold, new directions to tourism growth. Tourism is a journey of imagination. Imagination nurtured with a vision can open up infinite possibilities for tourism in Assam.
Steps of Tourism Policies in Assam
1. Assam Tourism website
An interactive and fully comprehensive website of Assam Tourism will be launched wherein all required information for any prospective domestic or international tourist will be readily available at the click of the mouse. The website will contain linkages to all sorts of information and bookings including Hotels, Air Travel, Rail & Road, Bus, Home Stays, Bed & Breakfast accommodation, Restaurants, Details of Tourist destinations, packages, Fairs and events, Route maps etc. It will have the facility for two way interactions with all stakeholders such as Tourists, Tour Guides and Tour operators. Hoteliers, Restaurateurs etc to collect feedback information on Do’s and Don’ts, weather and local cultures will also be hosted to guide the prospective tourists.
2. Building Brand
Inspite of having tremendous tourism potential, Assam has not yet aggressively marketed itself. A comprehensive marketing strategy will be chalked out in consultation with professional agencies. A brand image of Assam as “Awesome Assam” will be created portraying the state’s uniqueness and exotic beauty. The brand name will be translated to Hindi and other National and International languages.
3. Assam-A Tourist hub for North East India
Assam is the gateway to the North-Eastern states. Geographically and culturally the states have an interdependent relationship. A total NE perspective in tourism planning, where the strength of each state complement each other is beneficial to all and is a constructive way forward for tourism promotion. Assam will play a proactive role to develop such a wide view of tourism promotion through coordination among the states in creating zonal and regional circuits.
4. Wildlife Tourism
An attractive feature of the Assam’s forests is its colorful wildlife. Some of the species are exclusive to the state. Assam is famous as the home of one-horned rhinoceros which is its unique selling point apart from the fauna.
5. Spiritual Tourism
After wildlife, it is spiritual tourism that attracts pilgrim tourists to Assam. Centering on the most famous Shakti-peeth, Kamakhya Temple atop Nilachal hilltop in Guwahati city, the religious/ spiritual tourism can catapult Assam into a major spiritual tourism destination in the country. Assam is known among the pilgrims and domestic tourists as a wonderland soaked in Shaktipooja, mysticism, tantric practice, mythology and black magic of Mayong with Kamakhya as the epicenter. This advantage shall be turned into a revenue spinning machine and local employment creation by the right interventions.
6. Ethnic Tourism
Assam has been a unique place on earth for cultural and ethnic diversities. The state is a homeland of various ethnic tribes and groups, each having its own cultural heritage. Each of these tribes possesses some unique features in its socio-cultural life including customs, religious belief, language, culture, dress, way of life, festivals, food habits, songs and dances which are different from others.
7. Tea & Golf Tourism.
Since the discovery of tea in 1823, tea-gardens have become an integral part of Assam’s landscape. Each of these thousands of lush green tea gardens in Assam is a treasure house of the exotic beauty of nature with colorful people and their enchanting songs and dances, sprawling bungalows, and residential facilities. Many of these tea gardens have polo fields and golf courses. There are as many as thirty airstrips and helipads maintained by the tea garden management. These facilities can be included within attractive Tourist packages.
8. River Tourism
The State of Assam has an extensive river network. The Brahmaputra is intrinsic to the socio‐cultural life in Assam. Assam has immense opportunities to develop river tourism and water leisure activities. Colorful canal barges, boating, luxury cruisers, motorboats, dolphin shows, under water‐world, water sports and lighters, parasailing, river rafting, water amusements and more. River tourism in Assam could be a great way to spend holidays. International standard of luxury cruises can be a great driver to draw more domestic and international tourist traffic to Assam.
9. Adventure Tourism
The enchanting blue hills and speedy rivers of Assam provide enormous scope for the development of water-based adventure tourism. Recently, some of the adventure sports activities like rock-climbing, trekking, para-sailing, water sports, river rafting and angling are promoted by the Department of Tourism.
10. Eco-Tourism
Eco-tourism is also a new concept, developed around the idea of traveling to places of natural beauty, moving around and staying with the places of nature for a couple of days. It has the twin objectives of conserving the environment and improving the welfare of the local people. Assam has immense scope for eco-tourism. The state is virtually free from industrial pollution. Its green forests, blue hills, enchanting rivers are the basis on which eco-friendly tourism can be developed. For that a host of matters to be properly addressed are:
- Development of good approach roads to the spots of tourist attraction and eco-camping.
- Creation of infrastructural facilities like good quality tents, cottages-on-stilts with provisions for food and other logistics.
- River cruising, water sports, bird watching towers
11. Transit Tourism
For many of the tourists, particularly for foreigners, Guwahati is not only a tourist destination but also is perceived as a halt or the entry-point to the northeastern states. It is a city from where one could connect to other parts of Assam or get in and out of the northeast. On average, a tourist spends about 2 days in transit which could be turned as a great opportunity to promote Guwahati City-based Tourism titled ‘One day in Guwahati’ or ‘Two days in Guwahati’.
12. Monsoon & Leisure Tourism
Foreign tourists from cold countries of the West (Europe, Scandinavia, North America) and East Asian countries (China, Japan, Korea) are naturally mesmerized with the tropical evergreen rain-forests soaked in heavy monsoon and covered by thick clouds. Tea gardens with unparalleled landscape with full greenery during monsoon and wildlife cottages/ homestays/ houses-on-stilts stay with the pitter-patter of rains will attract the international tourists. It will be packaged suitably and targeted to the right set of prospective tourists.
13. Medical Tourism
The rapidly growing healthcare sector in the state capital Guwahati has gradually started to attract international patients not only from neighboring countries such as Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh but also from far-off countries, especially African nations. The domestic patients from other North-Eastern states had already started flocking to Guwahati from a decade back. From a place of primary healthcare centers, dispensaries and clinics, the city has now expanded itself into a hub of critical care, multi-specialty and super-specialty centers. Health sector experts attribute this emerging trend to low-cost treatment, quality healthcare infrastructure and availability of skilled doctors.
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