Northeast India may be one of the richest tourism destinations, but poor infrastructure, patchy connectivity, and cumbersome permit systems are preventing the region from becoming a major global travel hotspot, according to a new knowledge paper unveiled at the North East India Infrastructure Summit & Exhibition 2026. The report, Tourism Infrastructure in Northeast India, presents a striking paradox: while the eight northeastern states recorded nearly 12.8 million domestic tourist visits in 2024, the region still attracts less than one per cent of India’s inbound international tourists. Prepared by the Federation of Industry & Commerce of North Eastern Region (FINER), Build India Foundation, and IIM Shillong, the paper describes the Northeast as one of India’s most underutilised economic opportunities, despite possessing some of the country’s most unique natural and cultural assets.
Stretching across 262,000 square kilometres and home to more than 200 ethnic communities, the region contains two global biodiversity hotspots and boasts attractions found nowhere else on Earth, including Meghalaya’s living root bridges, Manipur’s Keibul Lamjao—the world’s only floating national park—Kaziranga’s famed rhinos, Majuli’s river-island civilisation, and Arunachal Pradesh’s vast Himalayan wilderness. Yet tourism activity remains concentrated around a handful of gateway destinations such as Guwahati, Shillong, Gangtok, and Kaziranga, leaving much of the region’s potential untapped. The report notes that while the Northeast accounts for nearly eight per cent of India’s land area, it contributes only around 2.5 per cent of the country’s GDP.
Tourism, the authors argue, is among the few sectors naturally suited to the region’s geography and could become a powerful engine for employment and entrepreneurship. According to the report, the region’s biggest bottleneck lies in its infrastructure. Although the Northeast has more than 13,600 kilometres of national highways and over 20,000 kilometres of state highways, the last stretch to many tourist destinations remains unpaved or seasonally inaccessible.
Quality accommodation is largely concentrated in major urban centres, while many emerging destinations lack hotels, visitor facilities, and tourism services. The paper also points to permit requirements and fragmented regulatory systems as barriers to tourism growth, particularly for international visitors planning multi-state itineraries. It recommends the creation of a unified digital platform integrating Inner Line Permits, Protected Area Permits, and tourism registrations across the region.
One of the report’s most ambitious proposals is the development of 25 Integrated Tourism Growth Nodes by 2047, combining airport access, upgraded roads, digital infrastructure, hospitality facilities, and community-led tourism enterprises. The goal is to transform tourism from a seasonal activity concentrated in a few locations into a region-wide economic driver. The study highlights the Northeast’s strategic location as India’s gateway to Southeast Asia.
Sharing nearly 5,500 kilometres of international borders with Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, and China, the region could emerge as a hub for cross-border tourism under the Act East Policy. The report argues that improving connectivity through projects such as the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway and the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project could fundamentally alter the region’s tourism prospects by connecting it to a wider transnational market stretching into Southeast Asia. Another key finding is that the Northeast may be uniquely positioned to benefit from changing global travel preferences.
As travellers increasingly seek authentic cultural experiences, eco-tourism, adventure travel, and community-based tourism, the region’s indigenous traditions, biodiversity, and relatively uncrowded destinations offer a competitive advantage. Unlike many established tourist hotspots, the Northeast does not yet face overtourism or capacity constraints, allowing it to pursue planned and sustainable growth. The report stresses, however, that tourism expansion must remain community-centric.
With large parts of the region governed by customary land systems and Sixth Schedule institutions, the authors argue that successful tourism projects will depend on community participation, benefit-sharing, and environmental safeguards. For a region grappling with youth unemployment and limited industrial opportunities, tourism could become a transformative sector, generating livelihoods through homestays, guiding services, transport, handicrafts, hospitality, and cultural enterprises across remote districts. In his foreword, Union Tourism Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat describes Northeast India as “one of the world’s best-kept secrets” and says the time has come for the region to take its place among Asia’s premier tourism destinations.
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