TOURISM IN THE NORTH EASTERN REGION
The eight States of the North Eastern Region form part of the East Himalayan region, which extends from Sikkim eastwards and embraces the Darjeeling Hills of West Bengal. The rich natural beauty, serenity and exotic flora and fauna of the area are invaluable resources for the development of eco-tourism. The Region is endowed with diverse tourist attractions and each State has its own distinct features. The attractions are scattered over the entire region and are largely located in remote areas within highly fragile environments. These attractions and the people of the Region constitute the tourism resources at large. The facilities for stay, food, shopping and entertainment are improving tremendously.		Siroi Lily (Manipur)
Kyllang Rock (Meghalaya)		Potasali Eco-Camp (Assam)
DEVELOPMENT OF TOURISM IN NORTH EASTERN REGION
Government attaches great importance to the development of tourist infrastructure in the North Eastern Region in view of immense tourist potential of the region. Despite abundance of natural beauty, snow peaked mountains and white water rivers, the flow of incoming tourists has been marginal due to lack of infrastructure. Accordingly, there has been a continued thrust on development and upgradation of various tourist facilities namely Tourist Accommodation, Wayside Amenities, Budget Accommodation, Beautification and Refurbishment of Historical Monuments/Monasteries etc. Under Adventure Sports, River Rafting equipment, Water Sports equipment, Adventure Tourism equipment		Ujjayanta Place (Tripura)
have also been provided under the Central Financial Assistance. In order to develop and promote tourism in the region, the Ministry of Tourism has taken following steps : -
In pursuance of PM's initiative for North East, a full-fledged Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology has been set up at Shillong.
A chapter of Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management has been opened at Guwahati.
The Food Craft Institute at Guwahati has been upgraded to the level of Institute of Hotel Management, Catering Technology and Applied Nutrition and the existing infrastructure is being expanded.
The Department of Tourism has upgraded the Government of India Tourist Office, Guwahati from Director to Regional Director level. This will facilitate in speeding up the work of classification/re-classification of 1-3 star function hotels located in the North Eastern States which were earlier covered by the Regional Director, Government of India Tourist Office, Kolkata.
A video film on tourist attractions for North East has been produced by Ministry of Tourism in order to give wide publicity to the region. This is being screened by Air India in their flights
North Eastern States are given a free booth in the world's largest Tourism Fair, International Tourism Mart, Berlin
Financial Assistance for promotion of fairs and festivals is also being provided to North Eastern States every year on continuing basis
North Eastern States are given a special focus in the Marketing Conferences of Overseas Offices of the Ministry of Tourism. All these overseas offices are giving due publicity to the North Eastern States for the promotion of tourism in the region.
During the year 2000-2001, Ministry of Tourism sanctioned an amount of Rs.24.52 crores for new projects relating to development and promotion of tourism, out of which Rs.7.79 crores were released to North Eastern States and Sikkim. In addition, an amount of Rs.4.96 crores was also released for ongoing projects. For the year 2001-2002, 121 projects relating to development and promotion of tourism amounting to Rs.32.57 crores were prioritised for the North Eastern States including Sikkim	Sagol Kangjei (Polo, Manipur)
Interest Subsidy is available to 1-3 Star/Heritage category hotels on loans sanctioned by Tourism Finance Corporation of India, Industrial Development Bank of India, Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India, Small Industries Development Bank of India, Industrial Finance Corporation of India and the State Finance and Industrial Corporations @ 5% if they are located in the Guwahati-Kaziranga-Shillong-Tawang Travel Circuits identified for intensive development in the National Action Plan for Tourism.
As per section 4 of the Expenditure Tax Act, expenditure tax has been waived off in respect of hotels located in hilly areas or rural areas or places of pilgrimage or a specified place of tourist importance with effect from 1st April, 1998 and until 31st March, 2008. For all other areas it is applicable only to hotels with a single room rent of Rs.2000/- and above. Once the hotel comes under the expenditure tax, then it is applicable to room charges as well as all other products and services sold through the hotel.
Tourist information provided on the websites of Government of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur,Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, and Tripura.   India Tourist Office Government of India, Ministry of Tourism Subha Yatra