Nagaland

Project/Location
Nagaland is one of the States of
India located in the extreme north
east of the country, bordering
Myanmar. It is primarily a tribal state
with 16 major tribes and numerous
sub tribes.

The terrain is scenic and contains
some of the world's last remaining
virgin forests. There is a rich
diversity of plant life, most of which
is not documented. The wildlife
however has been much depleted
over the years due to hunting and
deforestation. The people are of
great interest and together with
their life style, arts and crafts,
traditional folk songs and dance,
will initially provide the foundation
for Nagaland's tourism product.

John Robinson was commissioned
by the World Tourism Organisation
to undertake a detailed assessment
of the tourism sector, an evaluation
of the natural and cultural
resources, and prepare a project
document for the formulation of a
comprehensive ecotourism master
plan.

Project Description
Nagaland has only recently opened
up to international visitors. Tourism
is still in its infancy. The challenge
will be to ensure the benefits of
tourism are sustainable and fairly
distributed and negative impacts
are minimized.

The object of the project is to
prepare a master plan that will
address the poverty,
socioeconomic and environmental
issues within the context of tourism
development. The project proposed
comprises of:

1. Tourism development programme
2. Marketing development
programme
3. Community development
programme Institutional
strengthening and human resource
development programme
4. Short term tourism development
action plan

Although Nagaland's tourism sector
will be very small by international
standards, if carefully planned and
managed, it will make an important
contribution to the income at
community level.