Tourism Minister Paul Lyngdoh has said the focus of his department will not be on footfalls of tourists but to upscale the level of tourism in the state.
Speaking to reporters, Lyngdoh said, “Most importantly, the focus will not be on footfalls, not on the numbers of tourists who are visiting Meghalaya but more on the quality of tourists visiting Meghalaya meaning that the success of the department will not be viewed in terms of how many arrivals but generally we will try to upscale the level of tourists in Meghalaya.”
He said there is need to enhance the infrastructures in the state in order to achieve this objective to upscale the tourism industry in the state.
“To do that, we need to enhance our infrastructure and this is linked to various other departments. I am sure that under the able leadership of Conrad K Sangma, this will be possible and we will be in a position to optimize the potential of Meghalaya as a tourism destiny,” he said.
Ropeways
On ropeway projects, Lyngdoh said, “These are ongoing projects and hopefully we will be in a position to physically open to the public in the next six months’ time.”
“Work has already started. I mean a lot of work which you don’t see physically – land issues and stuff like that which are already been handled. The physical execution should be visible max six months from today,” he added.
Drugs
Asked on the problem of drug menace, Lyngdoh, who is also social welfare minister said that his department is on the job to come up with comprehensive action plans to address the issue.
“Again this is interlink to departments like home (police), health department and various other departments but we certainly are on the job and elimination of the drug menace is a priority of this government,” he said.
“Rehab centres are in the entire chain of event post addiction. Post addiction that you have rehab centres. Why don’t we first prevent, attract, refocus the attention of the youth so that instead of turning into drugs they turn into arts, they turn into music, they turn into weaving, they turn into tourism, when they do that they will certainly not go to drugs. Therefore, you will need less of de-addiction centres, you will need less of rehabilitation centres.”
“Those who are already addicted we will take care of them but that is post drug scenario but I am talking about preventive rather curative measures,” he said.