SANGDUPOTA, Sep 20: Tourism Assistant Director Bengia Manna Sonam advised the youths and women’s groups of Sangdupota circle in Papum Pare district to maintain hospitality, cleanliness and hygiene in order to create an atmosphere conducive to developing tourism.
Addressing an awareness programme on ‘homestay, hospitality and rural tourism’ here on Thursday, Sonam exhorted the youths and women’s groups to take up tourism activities for earning sustainable livelihood.
“Tourism is the only sector after agriculture and horticulture which can give viable income to the local people,” she said, and urged them to use the abundant natural resources of the area for tourism purposes.
Papum Pare DTO Tater Mize urged the locals to make Sangdupota “the best tourist destination in the district.
“The area, being in the vicinity of capital complex, has huge potential for eco and rural tourism. We need to explore and harness it properly and make the area the best spot for tourism in the district,” he said, and assured to extend all possible assistance in this regard.
APTOA president John Panye spoke on the roles of homestays, transport, hotels and restaurants in the tourism sector, and asked the participants to harness their rivers, mountains and forests in a sustainable way.
He requested the tourism department to help in exploring the unexplored tourism spots of the area.
Arunachal Pradesh Tour Operators’ Association (APTOA) general secretary Bengia Mrinal urged the community to conserve the rich flora and fauna of the area in order to promote wildlife tourism. He advised the youths to engage themselves in tourism activities “instead of running after government jobs and contract works all the time.”
Yomjum Yonggam of Yonggam Tours & Travels spoke about adventure activities such as river rafting, angling, trekking and rock climbing, and advised the youths to get trained in adventure courses to make adventure tourism successful in the area.
Later, a tourism awareness camp was also conducted at the government secondary school in Besar Nello.
Hundreds of women, youths, students and villagers from Sangdupota circle attended the programme, which was organized by the tourism department in collaboration with the APTOA as part of ‘Paryatan Parv’.
