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Tourism

The Challenges Of Tourism Development In Namchi, Sikkim

In a noteworthy movement of developing tourism in Namchi, the newly registered – Namchi Tourism Development Cooperative Society (NTDCS) organizes Pre World Tourism Celebration 2024 in Namchi with the launching of 50 vehicle permit for North Sikkim (PAP) and Nathula, and the felicitations to stakeholders, on September 24.

Tourism in hills attracts a large amount of tourists from domestic and international places. Darjeeling (the queen of hills) and Gangtok Sikkim are two most visited places in the hills.

But, the tremendous gap in the ability of attracting tourists in a nearby town of Namchi has led it’s stakeholders have inprofitable businesses.

“Lack of coordination and unity and conflict of interests have put the industry back,” Zilla Adhakshya Namchi Anjita Rajalim states.

The tourism industry of Namchi district is immensely challenged for the locals because of the lack of understanding in tourism. Anjita Rajalim in NTDCS’s ‘pre world tourism celebration’ event on September 24, stated that the locals are unaware of the profit from the tourism.

Out of sixty hotels and numerous homestays spreading across the district the connecting roads are not smooth for function. The unity in coordination is another challenge the industry is facing, she have also shared.

Lack of water is another challenge. The topic brought by the former Zilla Adhakshya Namchi, Tshering Dem Bhutia, in the same event.

Currently, Namchi is drinking water from the local water sources where the water is available only on monsoon. With the monsoon season coming to an end, Namchi is going to suffer critically with water unavailability.

During his visit to Namchi PHED, minister Sonam Lama, defended that the government by stating that water scarcity in Sikkim was evident from before the SKM party came to ruling on 2019.

He shared that SKM chief, PS Tamang have devised a plan of solving this long pending problems permanently by 2028.

The government is ready put expenses on water restoration in Gangtok, Namchi and Geyzing, he further stated.

Namchi donot have a local place for booking the stay, because of the lack of tourism and travel agencies. The guide for trekking and camping is completely lacking. Namchi, with its meaning ‘sky high’ still lacks paragliding and skii-diving. A handful of river rafting in the area are disappearing these days.

The other lacking factor in the development of tourism in Namchi is marketing firms and inadequate spreading of informations about the sightseeing spots of Namchi district. There are almost a whole year’s festival spreading between months. But none of them are documented or showcased to wider audiences.

Sushil Rai

Sushil Rai

About Author

Sushil Rai is a journalist and documentary storyteller based in the Eastern Himalayas. He has been working as a Correspondent with Sikkim Reporter since 2019 and other houses, covering grassroots issues, culture, and the environment. He is the founder of The Himali Journal, a digital platform dedicated to documenting stories of people, place, and culture across Sikkim, Darjeeling, Kalimpong, and Siliguri. Student of Journalism and Mass Communication (2014). Professionally in Journalism practices since 2019. Awardee of Sikkim’s Gramin Patrakarita Purashkar 2024.

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