NEDFi bid to boost NE tourism sector

GUWAHATI: The North Eastern Development Finance Corporation Limited (NEDFi) is organizing a Tour Operators' Meet here on July 8 for bringing together operators from the region and their counterparts across the country on a common business platform for networking and enhancing flow of domestic tourists to the region.
The business meet, which has been sponsored by the ministry of DoNER, is expected to be visited by about 150 tour operators and stakeholders from the tourism sector of the northeastern states.The Association of Domestic Tour Operators of India (Aatoi) will be participating with a team of 32 tour operators from various parts of the country.
An exhibition of products and schemes of the various tour operators from the region will be displayed at the event. The tourism department of the state government, Assam Tourism Development Corporation (ATDC), Tour Operators Association of Assam (TOAA), Confederation of Tourism Industry Meghalaya (CTIM), Tour Operators and Association of all the participating northeastern states have extended their support and co-operation to make the event a success.
Last month, at tourism convention organized by the Tour Operators Association of Assam (Toaa) the Assam tourism department principal secretary Himangshu Sekhar Das said Dispur had approached the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for financial assistance for international standard development of tourism infrastructure in the state. A proposal for getting financial assistance in the tourism sector has recently been submitted to ADB.
Chief minister Tarun Gogoi, during a meeting with bureaucrats last month, had included tourism development among four top priorities of his new government. The chief minister has outlined a way to promote tourism for generating more employment in the region.
At present Sikkim is the only state in the northeast, which is getting financial assistance in the tourism sector from ADB. Das said outside northeast, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Tamil Nadu are a few states getting financial assistance from ADB in the tourism sector.
The tourism department has recently formed Assam Tourism Council to implement the state's tourism policy.
Fifty percent of the members in the council comprise all the government departments while the rest are from tour operators and hoteliers. The council will pave the way for tourism development through consultation and active participation from stakeholders and the departments.