Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu has underlined the need to improve air connectivity to the Northeast.
Naidu said this while virtually releasing a book titled, Oh Mizoram, by Mizoram governor PS Sreedharan Pillai.
Naidu also called for tapping the full tourism potential of the region.
He said eco-tourism and cultural tourism can become the mainstay of development in the Northeast if the tourism potential was fully leveraged.
The vice president said that improving air connectivity to the Northeast can singularly bring a significant positive impact on tourist inflow.
Pointing out that India has 26 million outbound tourists every year, the Vice President said that one could assume that most of them would prefer to ‘travel local’ in the post COVID-19 phase.
This presents a huge opportunity for the Northeast to promote the tourism sector for this domestic audience, he said.
He praised the region for its pristine natural beauty and said that Mizoram’s colourful festivals, folk music and energetic dance make the Mizo society truly unique.
“Often called as ‘Songbird of the East’, the Mizos are blessed with a natural talent for music,” he added.
The event was attended by Development of the North-Eastern Region (DoNER) minister Jitendra Singh besides governor Pillai among others.