SHRA visits Tsomgo, assures stakeholders of support for quality tourism

STAKEHOLDERS EXPRESS NEED FOR BETTER ROADS, HOME-STAYS, INFRASTRUCTURE 
ANAND OBEROI
GANGTOK, 17 Feb: In a bid to make the Sikkim Snow and Culture Fest 2012 one of the prime facilitators for the Tourism Recovery Mission underway in the State, members of the Sikkim Hotels & Restaurants Association [SHRA] visited Tsomgo today where they interacted with stakeholders and assured to provide the required expertise to promote quality tourism in the area.
It may be informed that the Tourism Department in association with different organizations such as TAAS and SHRA are organizing the Sikkim Snow & Culture Fest from 14 to 29 February for which various forms of tourism promotion are being carried out in and outside the state.
During their visit to the area, interactions were held between the locals and members of SHRA which included its President, Bhanu Pratab Rasaily, Vice President, Arthur Targain and members Prashant Subedi, Basu Upreti and Samrat Pradhan, Assistant Treasurer who met with members of the Pokhri Sangrashan Sangh [PSS], representatives of the business houses at Tsomgo shopping mart and members of the yak riders association.
According to the locals of the area, the 18 September earthquake has definitely brought down the number of tourists coming to Tsomgo and surrounding areas which is one of the premier tourist destinations in the state. It was understood that along with the fear psychosis created amongst the tourists after the earthquake another prime factor which was leading to the decline of tourist inflow into Tsomgo was the condition of the JN Road which is still very unstable and unreliable.
Representatives of SHRA however, assured the stake holders that the projection of Sikkim as a safe tourist destination was being carried out in a massive scale with various sections of stake holders doing tourism promotion in their own areas of expertise. SHRA also informed the stakeholders about the Sikkim Snow & Culture Fest and about how Sikkim was being marketed in the domestic and foreign markets. However, the SHRA also agreed to the fact that the state of roads to Tsomgo was also a matter of concern and that the matter would once again be brought to the notice of the concerned authorities.
It may be recalled that the Tsomgo-Gangtok road is in a bad shape owing to the road widening work being carried out by the GREF in the area. Frequent landslides and instability of the hills leading to Tsomgo and above have led one to believe that traveling to Tsomgo is unsafe since anything like the change in weather and indiscriminate blasting in the area can block the road without warning.
“We have seen that tourism in the area has declined over the years because of the unreliable roads. The earthquake also has affected the flow of tourists to the area but we hope that the inflow will rise by April, May and June,” informed Tseten, an entrepreneur at the Tsomgo shopping mart. He also added that the non availability of proper toilet facilities for tourists in the area was also a cause of concern.
The toilet built in the lake area is situated in an isolated location which is also far from the parking area which is posing to be a big problem for everyone, he informed. Heavy snow fall in the area had also led to the toilets being inaccessible for the tourists.
In this regard the members of SHRA assured that the matter would be brought to the notice of the concerned authority as soon as possible.
“People from outside the state still have the misconception that Sikkim is unsafe thus we have started with the Snow Fest. We are here in Tsomgo today as this is the area which sustains a huge population of stakeholders in Gangtok. We are speaking to the stakeholders regarding their problems and will bring the same to the notice of the authorities when we get back,” assured the SHRA, President.
He also told the stakeholders that this year tourism in the state is slowly growing and bookings are coming in large numbers as the state government and the organizations are now showcasing Sikkim as a safe tourist destination and added that the response has been very positive.
Another serious problem for the stake holders in the area is the lack of proper home-stays which could also promote Tsomgo as a stay-over destination. The locals of the area have thus constituted a committee and developed a pilot project wherein setting up home-stays in the area has been proposed.
“We will definitely support the Snow Fest and every endeavor the state government will carry out. We have the capacity to serve around 500 vehicles full of tourists which has been proven in the past when the roads were blocked and tourists had to stay over. Now we need some professional expertise to launch home-stays in Tsomgo as Nathang and Zuluk have already started with the same,” informed Chewang Norbu Bhutia who is the President of PSS and also the Ward Panchayat of the area.
He informed that there are about 130 odd houses in the area which also includes Chipsu which is a small settlement at the tail of the lake.
“We want to start with the home-stays as it will facilitate tourism better in the region. We want to add that we are starting with this proposal to mark the Snow Fest also. This year maybe we will not be able to keep the tourists here but we will make sure that the next Snow Fest will also have the introduction of home stays in Tsomgo,” stated the President.
Further, Karma Bhutia who is a local entrepreneur informed that living in Tsomgo has now become a problem since the state Forest department, GREF and the army has shifted many houses from their permanent locations.
“We were asked to leave our permanent homes earlier which we have done. At present most of the locals are living in temporary homes. This is why we want the construction of permanent houses now because we too want a stable home where we can entertain tourists. There should be uniformity in the future,” he stated.
SHRA assured that they would conduct training programmes related to home-stays for the local stakeholders in the days to come. They also asked the local stakeholders to start with the cluster approach towards quality tourism promotion in the area.
Members of SHRA also distributed pamphlets on the Sikkim Snow Fest amongst the stakeholders and tourists who had come to visit a fully frozen Tsomgo.