ITANAGAR, Jan 28: The necessity of cleanliness and hospitality for the growth of tourism was emphasized during the National Tourism Day celebration this year in various parts of the state.
The theme of this year’s celebration was ‘Adopt a village for model tourism implementation’.
Celebrating the day at Riga in Siang district on 25 January, District Tourism Officer TK Kopak advised the villagers to maintain cleanliness in their surroundings and show hospitality to tourists.
Encouraging the villagers to participate in tourism-related activities to generate income, he assured to do the needful for promotion of tourism in the village.
The district’s tourism department has identified Riga as a model/heritage village.
“Riga has a lot of things to offer,” the DTO said, and sought cooperation from the community members for successful implementation of tourism projects.
Assistant Registrar of Cooperative Societies Obang Mibang urged the villagers to shun hunting of wildlife and involve themselves in conservation activities.
Mibang educated the villagers about the harmful effects of plastics, pesticides and weedicide on the health of humans and on the environment. He exhorted the youths to involve themselves in agriculture and horticulture activities to generate income.
Public leader Taping Tali also spoke.
Earlier, a photography walk was organized by members of the Siang Photography Club, who later documented all the historical sites of the village.
Cultural presentations, including Ponung dance and Tapu dance, display of local handloom and handicrafts items and local cuisines, and traditional games and sports events were the other attractions of the celebration.
National Tourism Day was also celebrated at Jommoh village in Upper Siang district, involving the villagers, reports DIPRO.
The celebration began with a cleanliness drive by the villagers, followed by an archery competition.
The festivities also featured the traditional game ‘Libiyong’, and the traditional ritual ‘Atur Putur’ was also performed to stop continuous rain. Local cuisines were also served to the people.
Preservation of local architecture and promotion of homestays were discussed, and a five-member committee was formed for implementation of a ‘model rural tourism’ programme.
Tourism Information Officer JJ Dubi highlighted the importance of rural tourism and homestays, and urged the villagers to cooperate with the department for promotion of rural tourism.
Earlier, college student Kakdem Panyang had been engaged to conduct a survey and identify a model village. He documented all the local food items, architecture, handicrafts and handlooms available in the village during the survey, as per the guideline issued by the tourism directorate.
