Diversifying tourism in Nagaland

One of the homestays displayed at the website of ‘Wander Nagaland,’ a ‘travel social enterprise’ launched in Nagaland recently. (Photo Courtesy: wandernagaland.com)

Vishü Rita Krocha
Kohima | December 15 

The Hornbill Festival 2019 may have come to a close but ‘Wander Nagaland’ (Nagaland Tour Operators/Tribal/Hornbill Festival Package) – the first travel social enterprise in the state which was launched on November 4, is continuing in its endeavor to create livelihood opportunities for everyday Nagas through tourism. 

According to Kevisato Sanyü, the founder of Wander Nagaland, “the tourism industry is budding and still very new. And so I think in that newness we want to work around helping define what our identity is.”

Stating that the state has not carved out its own identity in terms of a travel destination, he said “we don’t know how to articulate our value and we have not been able to explain to travellers what we have to offer.” Sanyü emphasized on the need to “define ourselves very strongly as a place for authentic cultural experiences, nature, cultural exchange, or for a sense of time that is different.”

He cited the example of places like Bhutan and Thailand that have defined what they are and ultimately attract more people. He explained that if a foreigner goes to Bhutan for instance, they immediately have in mind what they want. 

“We haven’t yet done that for Nagaland. And we have to work towards that as a collective”, he said while putting across that “we really want to try and push the tourism industry in Nagaland to be of great value. What we want to do is create a more diverse Nagaland identity.”  

The Hornbill Festival, he said is fantastic for the economy but emphasized on the need to start thinking about how to diversify the state’s tourism.

For instance, he cited the example of how two foreign tourists recently visited Mon and were not even interested in the Hornbill Festival but wanted to go as rural as possible and spent 6 nights in the remote villages of Mon district including one night in Mon.

“If only a couple of people go, there will be less rubbish, less pollution, destruction, less exploitation. Instead of having more tourists and more people trampling on our ground, maybe we’ll have less people, but have more value from them. We want to head down that way,” he said. 

Stressing on the need to articulate “our values” to domestic tourists, Sanyü observed that international tourists understand better what the people here have to offer. 

He pointed out that large sections of people in India are richer than they have ever been. The middle class, he felt, is venturing out, and not just going overseas, but they also want to discover their neighbor states. As a result he impressed upon the need to translate the same kind of value that foreign tourists look for in domestic tourists.

 
The ‘One Good Job’ Experiment
The launch of Wander Nagaland on November 4 has generated a lot of interest and positive response, managing to reach about 2,00,000 people on social media. 

“One of the main aims for the launch was to try and create a brand that our Nagas are proud of and we want everyone to have a sense of ownership. It’s a company for all Nagas to be part of and be proud of”, Sanyü stated.

With the objective to create more opportunities and generate livelihood, ‘Wander Nagaland’ is currently running a new campaign to create one good job over the next 12 months for an everyday Naga, and see if that one job can further create more opportunities for another good job and so on and so forth. 

This project aims at training somebody from outside the industry. Towards this end, ‘Wander Nagaland’ started working with a student of Nagaland University, who is passionate about food. Her job entails taking travellers to local restaurants, where they can learn about how the indigenous food is being cooked or the local ingredients used. 

“We want people to work on something they are passionate about, something about sharing their natural and cultural heritage,” Sanyü said.

In the meantime, ‘Wander Nagaland’ is looking for an Operations Coordinator, who can expand the company’s network, engage tour guides, operators and agencies and lend organisational support for tours and experiences. The details of this position are provided in the company’s website.