According to Union Minister of State for Tourism KJ Alphons, the North east region has 16.7 per cent growth in foreign tourist arrivals which is a welcome sign. The minister, who was in Arunachal Pradesh recently, said that 1.69 lakh foreign tourists visited the region in 2017 compared to 1.45 lakh in 2016. At the same time the domestic tourists flow to the region has also undergone a quantum with almost two crore tourists visiting the region in 2017. These are significant figures considering the fact that tourists have been shunning the region for a variety of reasons stretching from insurgency to poor infrastructure.  The case of Arunachal Pradesh is also in tune with the rest of the region which had also seen a steady increase in tourism flow during the last couple of years.

 While Arunachal is relatively calm without any insurgency problems, the tourism sector in the state faces an uphill task due to the poor infrastructure development. Yet, it recorded about 26 lakh domestic  and 52,000 foreign tourists visiting the state in 2017. Arunachal as such has a huge potential in the tourism sector provided the impediments hampering the tourism sector is resolved on a warfooting, chief among which is the road connectivity. Though the Trans Arunachal Highway construction is under progress, inordinate delays are blocking its smooth progress.

 Moreover, attention is yet to be given on the aspect of making the highway an all weather proof one. Torrential rains,  erosion and landslides are regular events that must be addressed with proper management, utilising the best scientific tools and tackling the unfortunate events that hamper not only the lives and livelihood of the people but also prevent tourists coming to the state. The state also lacks ‘super specialty’ hotels (we are not talking about five star or seven star hotels) or resorts of world standards where the tourists can spend their time in a homely atmosphere while away from home at the same time enjoying the beauty of the pristine hills and valleys. The biggest asset for Arunachal Pradesh is its educated young generation. Unlike in Nagaland, Mizoram or Meghalaya, our young people are masters in communication with fluency in English as well as Hindi.