World Tourism Day celebrated in Sivasagar district

GAURISAGAR: Sivasagar district celebrated World Tourism Day in a solemn way on Sunday following COVID-19 protocol. The function was organized by the District Tourism department. At the very outset, Assistant Tourist Information Officer Madhab Das briefed the audience and stakeholders about the World Tourism Day celebration. Das enlightened the audience about the significance of celebrating World Tourism Day. Through a power point presentation, he gave a brief history of World Tourism Day celebration and its significance. This year, World Tourism Day was celebrated with the theme 'Tourism and Rural Development'.

Gyandeep Borgohain, one of the resource persons of the day's programme, dwelt at length about this year's theme. Borgohain is associated with KITE MANJA, a Travel and MICE Destination Management Organization for India specialized in Northeast and the Himalayan regions. Borgohain highlighted the importance of tourism with respect to rural development.

He also presented an audio-visual on tourism and rural development. He stressed how tourism could promote rural development, especially in the Northeast.

Another resource person, senior journalist Asif Ibrahim talked about how ethnic food of the Northeast could promote tourism and enhance rural development. He highlighted how the north-eastern cuisines, which were exotic in their own unique way, were highly under-rated in mainland India, let alone the rest of the world. Ibrahim also focused on the variety of fresh water fishes found in the Northeast that add lustre to the various cuisines of numerous tribes of the Northeast. He also stressed on how the local brews of various tribes of the region could be promoted as part of food tourism, thus boosting rural development.

District Information and Public Relations Officer, Syeda Hasnahana moderated the open session in the day's programme. She exhorted the stakeholders to focus on visuals to promote rural tourism. She laid stress on how a photograph or a video could impact or impress tourists to visit places. She also exhorted the tourist guides of the district to explore the lesser known rural places of the district that had huge potential as tourist attraction, thereby promoting socio-economic development of those places.

The tourist guides and the tour operators present at the programme exuded confidence that they would work towards promoting tourism in Sivasagar with new zeal once the COVID-19 pandemic got over. Biswajit Borbaruah, a resident of Bokotial Gaon of Sivasagar, was felicitated on this occasion for rendering shelter and hospitality to a young cyclist of Spain, Manuel Arribas Rodriguez for over seven months during the lockdown period. The programme ended with a soulful rendition of Dr Bhupen Hazarika's song by Sapon Nath.

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