ISAS Briefs

In the last one year several tourism officials from Assam and the other Northeast states of India have benefitted from the Singapore Cooperation Programme, in capacity building, and received training that involves a range of tourism management skills. This highlights the range of opportunities that exist for synergy between Singapore and other Southeast Asian countries, on one side, and Northeast India, on the other. While the obvious complementary aspect is provided by tourists from Southeast Asia as consumers looking for new destinations which Northeast India provides, the development of such cooperation mechanisms opens new opportunities that can have significant impact for the region as a whole. Indeed, lessons can be drawn from Southeast Asian nations like Thailand and Singapore that have achieved a high measure of success in developing their tourism industry.