The much-awaited Crowborough Hotel in Shillong will finally be inaugurated on September 7, nearly three decades after construction began.
Chief minister Conrad Sangma said the Taj Vivanta will run and manage the Crowborough Hotel.
“This property has been under construction for over three decades and finally after several challenges it would be inaugurated on September 7,” he said.
Work on the Crowborough Hotel, located at Police Bazar in Shillong, had started in 1986 but was stopped following disputes which led to court cases between the Meghalaya government and contractors.
There was opposition from several quarters as the property was opposite the assembly and many argued it posed a potential security risk to the lawmakers. There were other legal challenges too, which together stalled the project.
However, with successive governments trying to sort out these issues the project has been completed. The hotel has nine floors with the economy, standard, deluxe rooms and some suites. It would also have a banquet hall, and a coffee shop besides parking space.
Apart from the Crowborough Hotel, the chief minister said the state would also inaugurate the Courtyard Marriott soon and that would give the state two luxury hotels for the guests.
The state government is also assisting to set up home stays in which 300 applications were received.
“The government would fund 50-60 per cent for setting up these home stays. The beneficiaries would pay the rest through easy instalments of Rs 5000 per month,” the chief minister said.
Sangma said the state is looking to add another 1500-2000 rooms through these homestays. “This is the best home stay programme we are offering in the country,” the chief minister said.
“Tourism has huge potential. A large number of jobs are created and this sector has potential to bring in huge revenue and so we have been focusing on it and trying to package it in a much better manner,” Sangma said.
As part of this effort, the tourism department has chalked out a calendar for the autumn season with several festivals lined up to attract tourists.
Sangma said there would be an international film festival, the Cherry Blossom festival, a boating regatta, Winter Tales and other festivals.
