Centre, NE leaders call for North East to emerge as a premium tourist region

Union minister for Communications and Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Jyotiraditya M. Scindia on Tuesday joined chief ministers and senior leaders from the Northeast at the 4th meeting of the High-Level Task Force (HLTF) on Tourism, marking a key step toward finalising an integrated tourism blueprint for the region.
The meeting, chaired by Meghalaya chief minister Conrad K. Sangma, saw participation from Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha, Sikkim Tourism Minister Tshering T. Bhutia, Arunachal Pradesh Tourism Minister Pasang Dorjee Sona, and joint secretary, ministry of Tourism, M.R. Synrem.
Building on outcomes from the previous sessions, the fourth HLTF meet sharpened strategic priorities and addressed bottlenecks to accelerate coordinated tourism development across the Northeast.
Discussions focused on unlocking the region’s vast untapped tourism potential by improving multimodal connectivity, strengthening high-quality infrastructure, developing iconic destinations, and scaling adventure and eco-tourism offerings. Leaders also pushed for new tourism products rooted in culture, heritage, and nature, along with stronger skilling, service standardisation, and capacity-building to generate local jobs and support sustainable growth.
A strong pitch was made for unified branding of Northeast India as a premium tourism region, backed by streamlined policies to attract large-scale private investment and ensure an investor-friendly environment.
Participants underlined the need for tighter inter-state coordination to enable seamless travel circuits and curated visitor experiences across state borders.
Calling the Northeast “Bharat’s cultural and natural powerhouse,” Scindia emphasised the importance of last-mile connectivity, integrated planning, and sustainability-driven development. He also advocated for an annual festival calendar showcasing the region’s major cultural events to boost visibility and cultural appreciation.
Earlier this year, MDoNER constituted eight High-Level Task Forces, each chaired by one Northeast chief minister along with the Union DoNER Minister and three other NE Chief Ministers as members. The Tourism HLTF has seen active engagement from all participants.
Scindia praised the depth of the presentations and requested the Meghalaya government to submit the final report after incorporating feedback from all members.