Meghalaya government to spend between Rs 12 to 15 crore for the events Autumn Calendar 2022 

To promote the tourism sector in the state of Meghalaya, the state government has announced the 'Autumn Calendar 2022 of events' for the autumn and winter season to increase the inflow of tourists from across the nation and internationally to the State. 

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma made the announcement on Wednesday evening. He also informed that the government is proposing to spend between Rs 12 to 15 crore for the events.

“The purpose (of the announcement) was to gear up and to disperse the information and to let everybody know that we have well-planned events for the autumn and winter seasons to ensure we can attract more and more tourists so that they can make plans to come to the state and enjoy these different festivals and programmes (that are lining up),” Sangma told reporters.

“The budget for all these events would touch roughly between Rs 12 to 15 crore. We expect financial support from sponsors also but the impact of this as in the number of people coming in will be a hundred times more than what it was before,” the chief minister added.  

The events include- the Megha Kayak Fest, the Autumn Festival, the North East Olympics Games, Umiam Boating Regatta, Hills Festival, the Cherry Blossom Festival, Me•Gong Festival, International Film Festival, Winter Tales, the Nongkrem Dance, the Wangala Dance.

CM Conrad said the events will help boost the tourism sector in the State and will create job opportunities for the youth. “We have seen a large number of jobs being created through it and it is also a sector which has the potential of bringing huge revenue for the people as well for the state.”

“Tourism is a sector we have been focusing on in the past and we realize that there is a huge opportunity for us to be able to package things in a much more attractive manner and get much more output out of the different locations and different events that we can do. With that in mind, we have decided we should come up with a proper systematic calendar of events so that a tourist can easily identify and make a decision on where he or she would want to go.”

CM Sangma also announced the inauguration of the long pending project – Hotel Crowborough in Khyndailad (Police Bazaar) on September 7.

“Finally, a project that has been lying and has been facing a lot of problems in the past 30 years and many decades…will be inaugurated in the city,” said CM Conrad.

He further informed that very soon, the government will also be inaugurating the Courtyard Mariot adding “we are also in the process to ensure more and more hotels and other properties come up throughout the state and those projects are also in the pipeline.” 

It is mentionable here that the construction of the Hotel Crowborough, located at Police Bazar, started in 1986. But disputes and cases between the Meghalaya government and contractors, and other legal and security challenges meant that the hotel construction remained stalled for much of the time, taking almost 36 years to finally finish its construction. 

CM further said that these events will not only boost the revenue of big hotels but also will be of an advantage to the local owners of home-stays and Guest House in the State. 

According to CM, the Meghalaya government is providing one of the best homestay programmes in the entire country by giving up to 50-70% of the financial benefits to the beneficiaries.  About 300 applicants have been received in the last few months.

 “Once they are able to move forward in the next 6-8 years they will be paying 5000-6000 per month in terms of the bank amount that has to be given back. We expect a huge response through this. We hope that we are able to create 1500-2000 rooms just from the homestay programmes and maybe even more,” he said while adding that the government is also working very hard to ensure larger and better and many more hotel properties come up in the state.