The Union Minister for Home Affairs Shri Amit Shah, who is also the chairman of the North Eastern Council will inaugurate “Destination North East-2020” tomorrow through virtual medium. Destination North East is a calendar event of the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region conceptualized with the objective of taking the North East Region to other parts of the country and bringing them closer together in order to strengthen national integration. Union Minister of State (Independent Charge), Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh will be the Guest of Honour in the event.

For Destination North East 2020, the theme is “The Emerging Delightful Destinations” which speaks of the tourism destinations emerging stronger and more attractive when the Sector picks up momentum. The programme focuses mostly on Tourism and coincides with ‘World Tourism Day’ which falls on 27^th September 2020.

The four-day programme will feature Audio Visual presentation of the tourist spots of the states and the region, messages from state icons and achievers, introduction to prominent local entrepreneurs and virtual exhibition of handicraft/ traditional fashion/ & local products. There will be special messages from the state Chief Ministers and Tourism Ministers as well as cultural items of individual states and medley performances combining cultures of all the eight states.

 Earlier, this week unveiling the Logo and song for festival “Destination North East-2020”, Dr Jitendra Singh said that the Festival Destination North East has been travelling across the country since last couple of years, from Varanasi in 2019 to the Lawns of India Gate in New Delhi or in Chandigarh before that and now it will be virtually reaching to your homes this year. He said, the festival is not just about Tourism, but it’s an invitation to the organisations and specially to the young entrepreneurs who would like to avail the advantage of unexplored potentials of the region.

Dr Jitendra Singh said that North-Eastern Region will be one of the favourite tourist and business destinations of India post COVID-19 and will be an important engine for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s clarion call of Atmanirbhar Bharat by focussing on “Vocal for Local”.

He said, the event “Destination North East 2020” is also an effort to make everyone explore the Local Destinations rather than going anywhere abroad. The Minister said that people should take a pledge to Visit Local, Travel Local and Explore Local thus giving a boost to the local Tourism and Hospitality industry. Moreover, he added that by remaining Corona free mostly, North East offers a very safe and attractive tourist destination in the entire World.

The Chief guest for the closing ceremony on 30.09.2020 will be Shri KirenRijiju, Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, while Shri RameshwarTeli, Union Minister of State for Food Processing Industries will join as Guest of Honour.

WHAT NE REGION HAS TO OFFER:

Eco-tourism - North Eastern Region is ideal for both passive and adventure forms of Eco-Tourism with wildlife sanctuary/parks, good scenic beauty, waterfalls, forests etc. The region has much to offer for the active adventure segment including river rafting among others, trekking of various grades and levels, rock climbing, hang gliding etc.

Culture - Culture is an important aspect and has the potential to attract selective culture tourists to North Eastern Region. The diverse and rich tribal heritage and culture is what differentiates North East with the rest of India. Another major differentiator is the rich and varying Arts and Crafts across the 8 North Eastern States. Here unlike most places, handicrafts are part of everyday life.

One significant aspect is the local community’s active participation towards increasing tourist- community cultural interfaces.

Heritage - Heritage tourism has picked up considerably in the Region with a participatory approach where tourists also get to actively participate than just seeing the monuments, old tea estates etc.

Religious pilgrimage - The region has many famous and old religious spots, which have been integrated with national tourism circuits for the benefit of the pilgrims.

Business - In view of attractive natural environment and growing trends of outbound business meets, the NER also offers ample opportunities for business tourism segment. Domestic and international connectivity, High-end hotels, Convention Centres, resort based convention facilities etc. have all contributed to the expansion of this Sector.

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