GOVERNMENT OF TOURISM DEPARTMENT

Aizawl the 14th May, 2020

Robert Romawia Royte Minister (IC) Tourism Department

MESSAGE

I am very happy to present this e-book on the establishment setup, various facilities and activities and achievements of the Mizoram State Tourism Department.

I hope and feel that this will be a big help to both the domestic and foreign tourists visiting the beautiful State of Mizoram in the North East .

(ROBERT ROMAWIA ROYTE) TOURISM DEPARTMENT,

Brief Profile:

The Department was created in 1987 by bifurcating Information, Public Relations and Tourism Department (IPR&T) to act as a nodal agency for development and promotion of tourism in the State. Since then it has been making endless efforts to promote tourism in the State by utilizing the available resources, building new tourist infrastructures, promoting rural tourism, focusing on human resource development and by promoting fairs and festivals. At present, it is headquartered at and has no other offices in the districts.

The vision of the Department is “to develop Tourism in a sustainable and integrated manner so as to make Mizoram a major national and international tourism destination, catalyzing growth and economic development”.

The main objectives of the Department are: 1. Promotion of Tourism Industry with a comprehensive approach and which will not be in conflict with the social, religious and cultural values of the host community. 2. To create conducive environment for growth of Tourism Industry by imparting awareness of the scope and the positive impacts of tourism to both urban and rural population. 3. To actively promote ecotourism and nature based tourism. 4. To upgrade and develop manpower skills with a view to providing requisite expertise to the youth so as to render them fit for employment in this industry. 5. To promote Public Private Partnership in development and management of tourist infrastructures in the State. 6. To enhance and monitor the growth of tourism by way of registration and formulation of guidelines for the tourism sector. 7. To encourage private sector participation for creation of quality tourism infrastructure and to ensure better management of tourism projects.

Administrative Set-Up: The political head of the Department is a Minister of State (independent charge) and its administrative head is Secretary (Tourism), Government of Mizoram. The Secretary is a senior administrative officer and is Secretary to the State Government as a whole and to the individual Minister.He/She is the principal adviser of the Minister on all matters of policy and administration within the Department having complete and undivided responsibility. The Secretary is assisted by a hierarchical team of officers known as Joint Secretary, Under Secretary and Office Superintendent. The Secretary along with his hierarchical team of officers and staff are collectively called the Secretariat Department of Tourism. All officers and staff are mainly drawn from generalist civil servants and

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Secretariat Services. The Secretariat is mainly concerned with policy making and is regarded as a staff agency. The Directorate of Tourism can be regarded as the line agency of the Tourism Department. It is mainly concerned with policy execution as an executive arm of the State Government. It converts policies framed by the secretariat into actions. The Directorate is headed by a Director; he is assisted by a Joint Director, three Deputy Directors, Tourist Officers and other subordinate operational and clerical staff.

The organizational set-up of the Directorate of Tourism is given below:

ORGANIZATIONAL SET UP OF DIRECTORATE OF TOURISM AS ON 30.04.2020

Director - 1 No

Joint Director - 1 No

Deputy Director - 3 Nos.

Superintendent - 1 No Asst. Engineer - 1 No (Vacant)

Clerical & Supporting Operational Staff/ Staff Tourism Service

Assistant - 3 Nos Inspector of Statistics - Tourist Officer - 3 Nos 1 No (1 Vacant) Computer Operator - 3 Nos Stenographer II - 1 No Asst. TourismOfficer - 6 Nos UDC - 5 Nos (1 Stenographer III- 1 (1 Vacant) Vacant) No Receptionist - 11 Nos. LDC - 5 Nos (2 Driver -3 Nos (1 Vacant) Vacant) Handyman - 1 No Asst. Receptionist - 16 Electrician - 1 (Vacant) No Nos (3 Vacant) Gestetner Operator - 1 Despatch Rider - No (Vacant) 1 No IV Grade - 45 Nos (4 Vacant)

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As per Allocation of Business Rules 2019 notified vide No. A.-46013/1/2017-GAD, the 19th June, 2019, the following functions are assigned to the Tourism Department: 1) Policies for promotion and development of tourism 2) Promotion and development of tourism including adventure tourism, eco- tourism etc. 3) Tourist accommodation and Tourist Information Centers 4) Tour guides 5) Tours and travels 6) Hotels and restaurants 7) Fairs and festivals for promotion of tourism 8) Ropeways and cable cars for tourism development

The Department undertakes development of tourism by undertaking the following activities:

1. Infrastructure Development and Management of Tourist Facilities: This is one of the core activities of the Department. Funds are sought and obtained from the Central Government to develop tourist infrastructures in the State. Mizoram now boasts 72 completed tourist facilities in the State, 66 of them are in operation and the remaining are yet to be operated. The management of 23 tourist facilities has been outsourced to private party to encourage entrepreneurship and private participation in tourism sector. Hence, the Department is currently managing 43 tourist facilities in the State. These facilities constantly serve the basic accommodation needs of international/domestic/local tourists as well as officials of the Central Government and State Government on official tour.

2. Human Resource Development: The Tourism Department, Government of Mizoram also undertakes development of human resources for employment in tourism and hospitality sector. Every year, the Tourism Department sponsors students to undergo degree course, diploma course

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and food craft course in Institute of Hotel Management, Catering and Nutrition in and in .

Realizing the importance of having such training institutes in the State, the Department obtained financial assistance of the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India to develop Mizoram’s very own Institute of Hotel Management. Construction of buildings for SIHM was already completed. At SIHM, the following courses will be offered:  B. Sc In Hospitality and Hotel Administration  Food Production Courses Though construction of the Institute is financed by the Central Government its management is to borne by the State Government. The Institute could not function for a long time due to the inability of the State Government to create teaching and non-teaching posts to run the Institute. A cabinet memorandum for post creation of SIHM was submitted by the Department in 2019 and the council of Ministers in its meeting held on 22.4.2019 has given its approval for creation of 32 posts to run the SIHM. The Institute is expected to function very soon.

Development of Adventure Tourism, Eco-Tourism and Rural Tourism: Thrusts has been given to develop adventure tourism, eco-tourism and rural tourism in the recent years as these are the identified potentials of the State in terms of tourism. Projects to develop these sectors are undertaken at various locations across the State. Aero-sports development is being undertaken to attract thrill-seekers from all over the world. The Department have procured aero-sports equipments like Powered hang glider, hot air balloon and paragliding equipments. Trainings have been given to local youths in aero-sports so that aero-sports may become popular in the State and be used as tourist attractions. However, the projects could not be completed as the Central Government took a stance to delink the scheme under which these projects are financed in 2015. That same year, a new scheme was introduced by the Central Government called Swadesh Darshan Scheme. Swadesh Darshan is a theme-based tourist circuit development scheme wherein the Central Government has identified fifteen themes namely Buddhist Circuit, Coastal Circuit, Desert Circuit, Eco Circuit, Heritage Circuit, Himalayan Circuit, Krishna Circuit, North East Circuit, Ramayana Circuit, Rural Circuit, Spiritual Circuit, Sufi Circuit, Tirthankar Circuit, Tribal Circuit and Wildlife Circuit for integrated development.

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The Tourism Department has two projects under Swadesh Darshan Scheme which focus on eco-tourism and adventure tourism as given below: Amount S/N Project Name Sanctioned Main Components Status ( In Lakh) Integrated 18 hole golf course Development of New at , eco-log Eco-Tourism huts, wellness spa, destination under 1. 9496.96 adventure park at SwadeshDarshan-N.E Completed , Mizo ethnic Circuit at Thenzawl, village, adventure S.Zote and Reiek , activities etc. 2015-2016 Development of Eco- Aerial forest Adventure Circuit : pathway and eco- Aizawl- Rawpuichhip- adventure activities Khawhpawp- at Rawpuichhip, -Durtlang- cable car between Chaltlang- Chaltlang and Sakawrhmuituaitlang- Durtlang, skywalk Muthi-Berawtlang- and other activities Airfield- at

2. under Eco- 9907.00 Sakawrhmutuaitlang, On-going Circuit Theme of aerosport activities SwadeshDarshan, and biking trail at 2016-2017 Muthitlang, adventure activities at Tuirial, Hmuifang and Khawhpawp, open air theatre and orchidarium at Berawtlang etc.

To promote and develop tourism in rural areas, the Department also undertook Rural Homestay Scheme under NEDP of the State Government. Rural Homestay Scheme was implemented in six villages of District namely, , , , , Dungtlang and during the year 2016. The Department identified 35 families from these villages as homestay partners and financial assistance to create an additional room in their house was given to them. The additional rooms are to be used as Homestays to be rented out to tourists and visitors. The homestays will be managed by the homestay partners and all income generated from the homestays will go to them. This will provide additional source of livelihood opportunities to the homestay partners. The project has been extended to District covering six villages and one more village in under NEDP 2017-18.

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Marketing of the Tourism Products of the State: The marketing function of the State Tourism Department is multifaceted and includes a wide range of responsibilities. One of the most important aspects in marketing is production of accurate publicity materials which may be in the form of booklets, leaflets, brochures, audio-visual publicity among others. This is one of the most important functions of the Department of Tourism. Printed publicity materials including booklets, brochures, tourist guide map etc. are created and disseminated by the Department as part of marketing activities. Audio visual media about the different tourism products of the State are also produced and publicized. The Department also participates in various tourism marts/fairs at the national and international level to market Mizoram as an ideal tourist destination. Web based publicity and mobile based applications are also developed to enhance and widen the marketing reach.

Organizing Fairs and Festivals: The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India has been providing financial assistance to state governments/ union territories administration for organizing fairs and festivals and other tourism related events. The maximum assistance provided to each state government during a financial year should not exceed Rs. 50.00 lakh. The fairs, festivals or events should be identified by the state governments based on their potential for the development and promotion of tourism. Availing the financial assistance of the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, the State Tourism Department started introducing new festivals in the State. ThalfavangKut was introduced in 2002. The name of the festival was changed to Winter Festival in 2017.Another festival called Anthurium Festival was also introduced in 2006. These two festivals have become the annual festivals of the Department to promote tourism in the State.

Major Achievements during 2019-2020

1. One of the most important achievements during 2019-2020 was the notification of the Mizoram (Registration of Tourist Trade) Act 2020 vide No.H.12018/254/2020-LJd dt 24th March 2020. The act is a milestone achievement for Mizoram Tourism because this is the first step to provide a regulatory framework for proper development and management of tourism activities so that it can develop on healthy lines. The act provides for registration of different categories of tourism service providers and connected activities in the State. It also gave power to the State Government to declare any area in the State to be a Tourist Area for tourism development.

2. The Tourism Department signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Central YMA to work together in promoting tourism and conduct tourism awareness campaign throughout the State.

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3. Development of Infrastructures for promotion of Ecotourism and Adventure Tourism:

Construction of Thenzawl Golf Course under Swadesh Darshan scheme of the Government of India was completed on 10.2.2020. It may be noted that the golf course at Thenzawl is the first and only golf course fundedby the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India. It is designed by Graham Cooke and Associates, one of the top-ranked Canada based Golf Course architectural firm. The total site area is 105 acres and the play area is 75 acres - 18 Hole Golf Course with Sharing Fairway and automated sprinkler irrigation system by Rain Bird, USA. It is designed to have facilities of international standards. There are 30 Eco-Log Huts, Cafeteria, Open Air Food Court, Reception area and Waiting Lounge etc, all constructed with Siberian Pinewood and fully furnished with world class furniture and fixtures.

Adventure Theme Park at Reiek under the same Scheme was also completed and inaugurated by the Hon’ble Minister of Tourism, Pu Robert Romawia Royte on 7th February 2020. Activity based adventure facilities like artificial climbing walls, high rope course, shooting range, obstacle course, camping ground infrastructures, etc are developed under this component. A replica of typical Mizo village was also constructed at Reiek so that visitors may get a glimpse of the lifestyle and glorious past of the valiant highlanders.

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4. Festival and Events: The Department organized the following festivals and events during 2019- 2020:

 Meet the Heroes: Peace Pays was organized on 8th August 2019 at Vanapa Hall, Aizawl to honor the 142 Mizo heroes who walked on foot to China from Arakan State, Myanmar during the freedom movement in Mizoram. This led to the signing of the historic peace accord between the erstwhile underground (MNF) and the Union Government on 30th June 1986. Today, Mizoram is known as the most peaceful State in the entire country.

 Anthurium Festival was held at Reiek Tourist Resort during 4th- 5th October, 2019 with great pomp and show. The festival provides opportunity for local artistes, entrepreneurs, handicraftsmen, adventure clubs and cultural clubs to exhibit and promote their talents and skills and gives them scope to earn additional income opportunities.

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 Paryatan Parv, a nationwide tourism festival to propagate the message “ tourism for all” organized by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, was also celebrated by the State Tourism Department during 2-13 October 2019. The Department organized photography competition, heritage trips for students, bicycle rally, talk show and other awareness generation programmes to encourage and promote domestic and local tourism.

 Winter Festival 2019 was also held at A.R Field, Aizawl on 18th December 2019. The festival also coincides with Christmas season which is a major tourist season in the State.

 The encourage tourist visits to Mizoram during Christmas Season, the Department in association with Central YMA organized Christmas Street Decoration Competition during December 2019.Cerificate and cash award of Rs. 5.00 lakh, Rs. 3.00 lakh and Rs. 2.00 lakh were given to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place respectively. Five consolation prizes amounting to Rs. 50,000. 00 were also given and participation prizes were given to all participating localities.

 FAI CAT-II International Paragliding Accuracy Championship 2020 was successfully organized at during 12th -15th February 2020. More than 23 paragliding pilots from all over the world participated and competed in the event. It marked the beginning of an important journey in the paragliding world and secures a spot for Mizoram in the domestic and international aerosport destination market.

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 Zo Kutpui was organized successfully at Vanghmun in during 9-11 January 2020 and Churachanpur in during February 2020. Zo Kutpui is the first festival organized by the State Tourism Department outside Mizoram. It aims to draw attention to the vast tourism potentials of the State and promote unity and solidarity among the different sub-tribes of the Mizos in different parts of the world by creating an opportunity to celebrate the rich cultural heritage of the State. The event on both occasions was graced by the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Mizoram as the Chief Guest and the Hon’ble Tourism Minister, Government of Mizoram was the Guest of Honour. The festival in both places was warmly welcomed by the different sub- tribes of the Mizos living there and they actively took part in the event, thus making it a huge success. The Department also made plans to organize Zo Kutpui in other places like Maryland (USA), Tahan (Myanmar), Halflong (), Shillong (), New , and Bangladesh during 2019-2020. But it has to be postponed due to the recent covid-19 crises.

 During February 2020, the Department implemented Swachhta Programme funded by the NEC. Cleanliness drive was carried out in all tourist facilities and other important tourist spots across the State. Social media campaign to propagate the message of cleanliness was also carried out by involving local celebrities and influencers. Other activities under the programme are bicycle rally, installation of solid waste management system in tourist facilities, putting up banners and frames on the message of cleanliness, etc.

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5. Other Events: To Department also participated in the following events and open stall to promote Mizoram Tourism and market the tourism products of the State:

 In November 2019, the Department took part in Destination North East held at Varanasi wherein different attractions and tourism products of the State are showcased to different categories of buyers and visitors.

 The Department also participated in the International Tourism Mart held at on November 2019 to draw attention to the State of Mizoram as a desirable tourist destination in India among the international and national delegates of the event.

 The Department represented the State in the annual fanfare Bharat Parv held at Red Fort in during 26- 32 January 2020 and showcased what the State has to offer to enrich the country’s tourism potential.

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6. During 2019-20, the Department sponsored 3 new students to undergo hospitality courses in Institute of Hotel Management Guwahati and Institute of Hotel management, Shillong.

7. On 18th October 2019, the Hon’ble Home Minister, Government of Mizoram launched the first batch of Mizoram Tourist Police in the State to ensure the safety and security of tourists visiting the State. Mizoram Tourism in association with the Home Department set up Tourist Police booth at five locations in the State which has maximum number of tourist influx.

8. The Department also earned revenue of Rs. 305.70 lakh during 2019-2020 exceeding the Department’s target of Rs. 254.49 lakh by 51.21 lakh.

9. Tourist arrivals to the State have significantly during 2019-2020 reaching an all-time high of 1,66,011 arrivals against 89,766 arrivals in the previous year indicating an increase of 84.93%.

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