Shillong, June 15: The Meghalaya government on Monday asked Deputy Commissioners of all districts to hold consultations with the stakeholders upto village level on re-opening of hotels, homestays and places of tourist interest.

“We discussed about local tourists, and livelihood of the people and re-opening up of home stays, and hotels. All Deputy Commissioners would first hold consultations before taking any decision,” Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong told journalists after a review meeting chaired by Chief Minister Conrad Sangma

Based on the outcome of the discussions, he said the State government would take a decision in this regard.

Tynsong, however, made it clear that tourists from outside and inter-state movement will continue to be restricted till further orders.

Tourism in Meghalaya had been hit badly since anti-Citizenship (Amendment) Act protests raged across the North Eastern States and followed by theCOVID-19 nationwide lockdown

Chief Minister Conrad Sangma had stressed on the need to adapt to a new kind of tourism in the State due to the new COVID-19 landscape.

“The idea is to really work in future in terms of how we need to adapt to tourism when it comes to the COVID-19 situation,” Sangma said, adding that the government has also started a training programme under which we are doing the soft skill training and the software for the people who are part of the tourism industry.

On re-opening up of Ïewduh, the biggest market in the state, Tynsong said that he along with the Health Minister, Urban Affairs Minister Hamletson Dohling and senior government officials would carry out an inspection of the market and then take a call on its reopening.