Shillong will likely be the next venue of the India-Switzerland tourism meet next year. Chief minister Mukul Sangma, who visited Switzerland along with two tourism department officials to attend the festival held on August 5 and 6, said that a proposal was submitted to select Shillong as the next venue.

“In principle, the suggestion to hold the next meet was agreed on by officials of both the countries, present on the occasion,” Sangma said. Translated, this means that only official confirmation is pending. Various states of the country participated in the meet, jointly organised by India and Switzerland.

During a workshop held in Switzerland as part of the tourism meet, Sangma presented the tourism potential of Meghalaya to the audience. After the presentation Swiss officials told the Meghalaya delegation that the landscape and waterfalls, which were similar to Switzerland, fascinated them. “I told the people there that Meghalaya is equally beautiful as Switzerland, since the hills and the gorges are similar and I urged them to visit the state and the rest of the Northeast,” Sangma said.

Besides participating in the tourism festivals organised in European countries, the state government also wants to have interaction with the neighbouring countries like Bhutan, Bangladesh and Thailand. “We have requested the Union ministry of tourism to have effective interaction with these countries,” Sangma said.

He said the improvement of infrastructure facilities to attract more tourists is the need of the hour and better road and air connectivity is the priority of the government. Sangma said the expansion of Umroi and Baljek airports in the state is on the anvil and the government is also exploring the ways and means of operating an 18-seater aircraft from the existing airports.