The Centre has intensified its efforts to position India’s Northeast as a major domestic and international tourism destination by combining destination promotion, digital outreach, infrastructure development, cultural festivals and improved regional air connectivity.
In a reply to the Lok Sabha on August 10, Union Minister for Tourism and Culture Gajendra Singh Shekhawat said the Ministry of Tourism was pursuing a holistic strategy to promote tourism across the eight Northeastern states—Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Tripura and Sikkim.
The approach seeks to move beyond conventional destination marketing by supporting local festivals, improving visitor facilities, strengthening digital visibility and connecting tourism entrepreneurs with national and international markets.
International Tourism Mart as flagship platform
A key element of the Centre’s strategy is the International Tourism Mart (ITM), an annual event organised in the Northeast since 2013. The mart provides a common platform for tourism businesses, entrepreneurs, buyers, sellers, media organisations, government agencies and other stakeholders.
The latest edition of the ITM was held in Gangtok, Sikkim, from November 13 to 16, 2025. The event showcased the region’s natural landscapes, cultural traditions, spiritual heritage, cuisine, festivals, adventure tourism opportunities and community-based tourism products. The 13th edition in Gangtok was designed to present the Northeast to both domestic and international audiences.
The ITM also serves as a business networking platform. Tourism entrepreneurs from the eight Northeastern states can interact directly with tour operators, travel agencies, investors and media representatives for partnerships and wider market access.
For a region known for its diverse communities and distinct cultural identities, such a platform can help package tourism products without reducing the Northeast to a single travel narrative. The region’s appeal lies in its variety—from Assam’s river and tea landscapes to Sikkim’s mountain destinations, Meghalaya’s living-root bridges, Arunachal Pradesh’s high-altitude circuits and Tripura’s heritage sites
Incredible India goes digital
The Ministry has also strengthened the digital presentation of Indian tourism through the revamped Incredible India Digital Platform, or IIDP, launched in September 2024.
The platform is designed to engage visitors across websites and social media platforms. Its content is available in Hindi, English and United Nations languages, enabling India’s destinations to reach a wider domestic and international audience.
Tourism destinations in the Northeastern states are featured on the platform, giving visitors access to information about places, experiences and tourism products. For travellers planning journeys online, the digital platform can serve as an initial gateway to lesser-known destinations in the region.
The Ministry is supplementing the website with regular digital campaigns. Creative posts, live sessions and updates on social media highlight destinations, local experiences and tourism products across the Northeast. Promotional material produced by the Ministry also seeks to bring greater visibility to the region’s landscapes, heritage and cultural assets.
This digital-first approach is especially relevant at a time when travel decisions are increasingly influenced by online videos, social media recommendations, virtual events and destination storytelling.
Support for fairs and festivals
The Centre is providing financial assistance to State Governments and Union Territory Administrations for organising fairs, festivals and tourism-related events under the Domestic Promotion and Publicity including Hospitality scheme, or DPPH.
In the Northeast, fairs and festivals are not only cultural occasions but also important tourism assets. They create opportunities for visitors to experience local music, dance, food, crafts, textiles, indigenous traditions and community celebrations.
Financial support for such events can help state governments improve organisation, publicity and visitor facilities. It can also provide greater visibility to local artisans, performers, homestay operators, food entrepreneurs and small tourism businesses.
The benefits of festival tourism often extend beyond the event venue. Hotels, transport operators, restaurants, guides, handicraft sellers and local producers can all gain from increased visitor movement.
For the region’s rural and tribal communities, the promotion of festivals and traditional products can create additional income while encouraging the preservation of cultural heritage.
Infrastructure remains central
The Ministry is implementing several schemes to support tourism-related infrastructure across the country, including in the Northeast. These include Swadesh Darshan, the PRASHAD scheme, Assistance to Central Agencies for Tourism Infrastructure Development, Special Assistance to States for Capital Investment, and Challenge Based Destination Development.
Under the revamped Swadesh Darshan 2.0 scheme, the emphasis has shifted towards developing sustainable and responsible tourism destinations through a destination- and tourism-centric approach.
The objective is not limited to building isolated attractions. It includes developing visitor facilities, improving destination management and creating tourism experiences that are environmentally responsible and beneficial to local communities.
The PRASHAD scheme focuses on the development of pilgrimage and spiritual tourism destinations. In the Northeast, spiritual and cultural circuits can connect temples, monasteries, sacred landscapes and heritage locations with improved facilities for visitors.
Other infrastructure schemes support the development of access roads, public amenities, interpretation centres, sanitation facilities, viewpoints, parking areas and other tourism-related assets.
Such investments are important because scenic beauty alone cannot sustain a destination. Travellers also require reliable transport, clean public spaces, accommodation,digital connectivity, safety, and access to local services.
Clean destinations and responsible tourism
The Ministry is implementing the Swachhta Action Plan in coordination with the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation under the Ministry of Jal Shakti.
During 2025–26, 200 cleanliness and awareness activities were organised through the Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management, Central Institutes of Hotel Management, State Institutes of Hotel Management and Food Craft Institutes.
These activities were conducted under three broad categories: tourist awareness, student awareness and stakeholder awareness.
The Ministry also observes Swachhta Pakhwada and Swachhta Hi Sewa every year in September and October. In 2025, 277 activities were undertaken under Swachhta Pakhwada and 244 activities under Swachhta Hi Sewa across India, including the Northeastern region.
Cleanliness is a particularly significant factor for destinations that depend on fragile mountain, forest, river and wetland ecosystems. Awareness among tourists, students, local businesses and tourism workers can help reduce littering, improve waste management and protect natural attractions.
The focus on cleanliness also supports the larger goal of responsible tourism. Sustainable tourism requires destinations to balance visitor growth with ecological protection and community participation.
Air routes to strengthen access
The Centre is also seeking to improve tourism access through the Regional Connectivity Scheme—UDAN, which aims to make regional air travel more affordable.
The Ministry of Tourism has collaborated with the Ministry of Civil Aviation by extending Viability Gap Funding under the Champion Service Sector Scheme for tourism-related regional air routes.
Several routes in the Northeast have been included as Tourism RCS routes:
Dibrugarh–Dimapur and Dimapur–Dibrugarh.
Dimapur–Imphal and Imphal–Dimapur.
Agartala–Aizawl and Aizawl–Agartala.
Dibrugarh–Imphal and Imphal–Dibrugarh.
Hollongi–Guwahati and Guwahati–Hollongi.
These connections are expected to improve access between important tourism markets and destinations in the region. Better air connectivity can reduce travel time, encourage short-duration trips and make multi-state tourism circuits more practical.
For example, improved links between Assam, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Arunachal Pradesh can help visitors combine destinations that were previously difficult to connect within a single itinerary.
Air connectivity can also support business travel, cultural exchanges and tourism investment. However, the expansion of flights will need to be matched by adequate accommodation, local transport, trained guides, waste-management systems and visitor infrastructure.
Opportunity for local economies
The tourism push has the potential to create economic opportunities across the Northeast, particularly for small businesses and community-led enterprises.
Homestays, local guides, transport operators, restaurants, handicraft sellers, weavers, performers and adventure-tourism providers can benefit when destinations receive sustained visitor attention.
The region’s cultural products—including handloom, handicrafts, traditional food and indigenous art forms—can become an important part of the tourism economy. Assam’s Muga silk, for instance, represents the kind of distinctive regional product that can gain wider visibility when linked with destination marketing and cultural tourism.
A successful tourism model, however, must ensure that local communities remain active participants rather than passive recipients. Training, access to finance, digital marketing support and fair market linkages will be essential for ensuring that tourism income reaches local households.
From promotion to destination management
The Centre’s latest strategy indicates that Northeast tourism is being approached through multiple channels at once: international marketing, online promotion, financial support for festivals, destination infrastructure, cleanliness campaigns and regional air connectivity.
The challenge now is to ensure coordination among these efforts. A festival campaign must be supported by transport and accommodation. A newly promoted destination must have clean public facilities and trained local service providers. A new air route must be connected to attractive and responsibly managed tourism experiences.
The International Tourism Mart, digital platforms and government schemes can create visibility and investment interest. The long-term success of the region’s tourism sector will depend on how effectively that visibility is converted into sustainable visitor flows, local employment and protection of the Northeast’s unique natural and cultural heritage.
With the latest measures, the Centre is seeking to present the Northeast not merely as a collection of remote destinations, but as an integrated tourism region with global appeal. The success of this vision will ultimately be measured by whether tourism growth improves livelihoods, preserves heritage and allows local communities to shape the story of their own destinations.
