Antara Phookan is the Director of Design and Business Development at Assam Bengal Navigation Co. and JTI Group. An avid traveller herself, Antara is well-experienced in the conscious luxury tourism realm of India, having been involved since a young age. She specialises in niche marketing & business development, boutique property development, eco-chic sustainable design and Himalayan river cruise tourism catering to the discerning traveller.

What are some of the concerns for the growth of responsible tourism in Assam?

The pressure put on Kaziranga National Park as the sole identity focus for tourism is a deterrent to quality tourism growth that really ought to be sustainable for the long run. Assam is blessed with natural abundance that has incredible biodiversity and cultural variety spread across 7 national parks, 18 wildlife reserves and a plethora of indigenous tribal cultures, yet the pressure is just on one park of Kaziranga that is en route to becoming a city with the rate of large-scale concrete development that is ongoing, while 100-250-year-old trees are being felled for the national highway expansions all across Assam. Furthermore, the development of 100-200 key hotels in natural habitats of Assam is yet another deterrent to responsible tourism growth in this region. What is pertinent to understand, is that Assam, like its neighbouring states, is now on the tourism radar, only because of its abundant nature that supports biodiversity. If you focus only on ‘concrete’ large-scale development, then we will be killing Assam’s tourism potential before it has truly even begun. 

How important is it for tour operators, especially in Assam and the Northeast, to work with local communities?

Indeed, it is important but it also entirely depends on the kind of tour operator you are. If you are a mass tourism operator that leaves a negative impact then it is best not to work with local communities as it becomes mentally corrupting for the community. It is necessary to be a consciously responsible tour operator that engages local communities with respect to their culture, offering a genuine interaction that is not based on exploitation. 

Offering money for an authentic interaction based on their curiosity and kindness, makes a show out of them, their culture and their livelihood as a result of which the community becomes dependent on you and your tourists. Instead, if you help them build themselves up by offering resources to learn and support a vocational/educational skill set or help the change makers and social entrepreneurs within their communities, then you are cultivating the community’s growth through an effective change that causes a positive ripple effect for generations to come. 

Can you briefly describe Assam Bengal Navigation’s river cruise offering?

Assam Bengal Navigation (ABN) offers a conscious luxury collection of boutique river ships, houseboats and jungle lodges along India’s Himalayan rivers, the Ganges and Brahmaputra. These are long-distance river-cruising journeys that offer a unique immersion of authentic cultural and natural heritage of the two of the greatest rivers of the world, our Indian waterways, our greatest Himalayan rivers. The ABN river cruise ships, boats and lodges are a boutique hotel that reflects a sense of homecoming to the region showcasing the arts, crafts and textiles of each region. ABN celebrates the vernacular aesthetic of each region in an eco-chic contemporary offering. 

How is the riverine tourism experience different from land tours? 

Being on water is an entirely different experience of India in a naturally intimate way as you immerse yourself in a region through its natural abundance. The greatest rivers around the world have been the birthplace of civilisations with so much cultural and natural history to offer and our Himalayan rivers stand amongst the greatest river journeys of the world. We are proud to be able to earmark India’s beloved Himalayan rivers in the world river cruising map, pioneering with long-distance cruising the Brahmaputra River in 2003 and then cruising the Ganges River in 2007, and standing amongst the likes of the Nile, the Amazon, the Yangtze, Mekong, Rhine, Danube, etc. 

When we introduced the concept of riverine tourism on the Himalayan rivers, we knew that we wanted to showcase the cultural & natural heritage of the river that is otherwise, in most cases, inaccessible by road. This offers an authentic exploration of a relatively remote and rural India that is raw and rooted, which is where the soul of India lies, as described in our ancient Indian wisdom and it still exists, rooted in nature.  

How do you plan to enhance your offerings in the future and continue to engage guests? 

We are taking on a couple of new projects that will add value to our region of operation. Furthermore, ABN will continue to adapt and evolve to continue to deliver these unique, authentic, immersive experiences whilst also hopefully inspiring others to pursue conscious travel so that it becomes the norm going forward. 

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