DIMAPUR, NOVEMBER 1: The Nagaland Tourism Association (NTA) has come out in support of the State Government’s decision to hold virtual Hornbill Festival this year, saying this is a step in the right direction for the development of tourism in the State in the long run.
In a press release, NTA president A David Solo and immediate past president Vincent Belho said the tourism sector of Nagaland depends greatly on the Hornbill Festival, and that it is the only occasion when the tourism fraternity here is assured of generating good revenue and income.
“Earnings from the Festival enable us to continue through the lean months of the year. Hence the continuity of the Hornbill Festival holds great importance to every one of us in this industry”, it said.
However, the NTA accepted that understanding the dangers of the COVID-19 pandemic, having a physical Hornbill Festival like that of the past years is not possible and should not even be considered a possibility. “Thus, we come to the idea of a Virtual Hornbill”, it said.
NTA said a virtual Hornbill Festival will be a media oriented one where there will be no inflow of tourists to the State or mass gatherings of any kind. It will instead promote the largest and most anticipated festival of festivals to the outside world through the means of social and electronic media by using recorded footage of the festival, it said.
“If the Nagaland Government is indeed, planning to host such a Virtual Hornbill Festival as stated above, the Nagaland Tourism Association (NTA) will support the State Government’s decision to host such a festival. We feel that Hornbill festival hosted virtually over the internet will not only be COVID-19 prudent as there will be no physical presence of tourists in Nagaland, but will also give an opportunity to our many talented media production houses, videographers, content developers, voice-over artists, musicians and cultural troupes to showcase their expertise and earn some much-needed revenue in an otherwise similarly dry industry.”
Stating that the tourism sector already supports thousands of small local entrepreneurs and has enormous employment generation potential due to its wide supply chain, NTA said protecting and promoting this industry will only help the overall development of Nagaland in the future.
“To do this, there is a huge need to promote tourism in Nagaland to the global community of travellers and tourists at every opportunity. Having a Virtual Hornbill is a perfect opportunity to reach out to a greater audience”, it added.
(Page News Service)
