Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma on June 13 stressed on the need to adapt to a new kind of tourism in the state due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The idea is to really work in future in terms of how we need to adapt to tourism when it comes to the COVID-19 situation,” Sangma said after inaugurating the ‘isolated cottages’ called the Orchid Log Houses, overlooking the beautiful hills of Mawdiangdiang in the New Shillong Township on June 13.
The Orchid Log Houses in New Shillong Township was funded under Swadesh Darshan scheme of the Union Ministry of Tourism.
“It s important that we have cottages like these which are more isolated in one way and at the same time we need to ensure that the standard of infrastructure goes up, the experience of tourist is better and at the same time we need to ensure that our people who are going to be hosting the tourists are trained,” he emphasized.
“Therefore, we feel that we need to start preparing for it, which also means that we need to change the model and the way we look at tourism and the entire experience of tourism for the tourists,” Sangma said.
With the inauguration of the Orchid Log Houses, the chief minister informed that the government has also started a training programme under which they are doing the soft skill training and the software for the people who are part of the tourism industry.
He further informed that around 25-30 youth would be trained in the course in the next 15-20 days, saying that the idea is to “really improve their overall qualities and train them in what is required for better tourism and improve the experience of the tourists”.
“So this really is what we are planning towards how to adapt in the coming days in the COVID-19 situation but at the same time to ensure that our tourism sector moves forward,” he said.
