Khonoma: With COVID-19 severely impacting the tourism sector, residents of Khonoma Village – Asia’s first green village live in Nagaland – On Saturday thought in detail how to respond to the challenges of the pandemic.

Actors from the village community and representatives of the state government presented tourism in the COVID-19 era through a dialogue “The Khonoma Experience – Tourism Strategies for the New Millennium” organized by Dolhuni Dzüviu Golato (DDG) Kikramia (family).

Abu Metha, Advisor to the Minister of State, spoke to the gathering and urged the local community to join forces to provide experience-oriented tourism activities and to ensure that everyone, including locals, benefits from the experience.

Abu Metha, Nagaland CM advisor, speaks at the event

He urged the locals to use the embargo to strengthen and examine which tourism model should be practiced in the state – with the aim of further improving the services, improving and creating added value so that the state of Nagaland “pushes forward can To another level. He suggested setting a goal so that post-COVID-19 pandemic activities can be selected quickly.

He recognized the need for tourism strategies and policies and called on stakeholders to make political contributions and support the state government in promoting the sector. Citing a survey conducted by the state government, he said the 10-day Hornbill Festival had an economic impact of around Rs 106 billion and provided 8,000 job opportunities with an investment of Rs 5 billion.

In this regard, he said that tourism “can and will be successful” because the state has a rich culture, heritage, biodiversity and hospitality to offer. Despite the changes that might occur in tourist services, he reminded that there should be no loss of identity or destruction of Naga culture and way of life.

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He assured that the state government would provide “full support” to improve tourism activities in Khonoma and urged locals to make tourism services in Khonoma a model that other villages across the state can emulate. The politician also highlighted the potential of Khonoma to become a weekend getaway for the residents of Kohima.

Metha also assured that the government would consider formulating a bird watching round, providing capacity-building programs and helping locals digitize local businesses.

Speaking at the event, Tourism Director Ajanuo Belho said the government had adopted strategies to revitalize and sustain the industry as COVID-19 is affecting the tourism industry immensely. To improve governance in the sector, she said local tourism observatories will be set up with stakeholders to generate reliable data to track customer behavior and preferences.

She said taxes, fees, and transportation are being reviewed with customers’ interests in mind and the profitability of the business in mind. In addition, security measures will be implemented for customers with a focus on the security of COVID-19. Capacity building encourages skills development, in particular the improvement of digital skills and digital payment systems.

As a large number of tourists came to the village, she suggested that the village should offer more facilities and personalized services for higher income.

Kezhasezo Kenneth Punyü, chairman of the meeting, reported how the village of Khonoma began to preserve its natural flora and fauna not only for the benefit of the village but for the entire state. He also covered the role of the Khonoma Nature Conservation and Tragopan Sanctuary (KNCTS) Trust, the Khonoma Youth Organization, the Khonoma Students Union, the community and all of the top Nagaland destinations involved in Khonoma’s success.

He also briefly highlighted how the DDG group, made up of people between 48 and 55 years old from three khels (clans), was founded 20 years ago to contribute to conservation, ecotourism activities and the well-being of the people.

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