Shillong, June 13: Meghalaya Tourism Minister Paul Lyngdoh said today that tourist footfall in Sohra, Meghalaya, is increasing despite the “recent attempt to tarnish Meghalaya’s image” following the murder of a tourist from Indore.
He said tourist numbers are expected to touch 20 lakh after the upcoming Cherry Blossom Festival, to be held later this year.
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“As we speak, the footfall in Sohra itself is increasing. There are more and more visitors. Even when the case was still not solved, the footfall remained steady. Now, with the name of Meghalaya being vindicated and cleared, we are only seeing more footfall, and we expect that it would touch 20 lakh by the Cherry Blossom Festival,” Lyngdoh told reporters.
He said the government’s demand for an apology stemmed from several wild comments, including incitement to violence against the people of Meghalaya following the tragic incident in Sohra.
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The minister also informed that the state already has a tourism app that records the movement of tourists, including vehicles used, and requires compulsory registration of all visitors at homestays, resorts, and hotels.
“Currently, the use of this app is roughly around 50%, but we will now make it compulsory for all homestays, resorts, and other places of accommodation to mandatorily register all visitors,” he added.
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Meanwhile, the minister said the department has issued a notice inviting interested youth fluent in Khasi, Garo, English, and Hindi to join the tourist buddy scheme. “Within the next two months, we should be able to clear the appointment of hundreds of tourist buddies,” he said.
(Newmai News Network )