Guwahati: The North East India Tourism Confederation (NEITC) on Monday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Association of Buddhist Tour Operators (ABTO) to promote Buddhist tourism in the Northeast region.
NEITC officials said the agreement was signed during the National Tourism Convention and Familiarisation (FAM) Tour held in March at Namsai in Arunachal Pradesh.
According to NEITC, the partnership will help bring more international tourists to Buddhist sites in the Northeast. The collaboration will also provide better travel information and improve coordination for foreign visitors. Officials added that the initiative will also focus on promoting lesser-known Buddhist heritage sites in the region.
Speaking at a press conference in Guwahati, Convention Chairman Tsering Wange said the initiative will help expand Buddhist tourism destinations.
“Most international tourists usually visit Bodh Gaya or Tibet for Buddhist tourism. Through this partnership, we want to promote Buddhist destinations in Arunachal Pradesh, parts of Assam, Sikkim and other areas of the Northeast,” Wange said.
ABTO has members in 25 countries, and NEITC believes the partnership will help include Northeast India in the global Buddhist tourism circuit.
NEITC also said the MoU will help strengthen tourism cooperation and create new tourism-related opportunities in the region.
During the event, NEITC also announced its new governing council and executive committee.
The newly elected office bearers are:
- Tsering Wange – President (Arunachal Pradesh)
- Elina Satapathy – Vice President-I (Manipur)
- Jhantu Roy – Vice President-II (Tripura)
- Yangchen Tongden Lepcha – General Secretary (Sikkim)
- Joe RZ Thanga – Joint Secretary (Mizoram)
- Rajkumar Das – Treasurer (Assam)
The new leaders said their priority will be to promote Northeast India as a tourism destination both in India and internationally.
NEITC said the new partnership and leadership team will help strengthen coordination and support long-term growth of tourism in the region.
