National Games in Meghalaya: Homestays to double up as Games Village for athletes

Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad Sangma. File

| Photo Credit: PTI

The northeastern State of Meghalaya is developing an innovative plan for the National Games, which it is scheduled to host in 2028.Instead of constructing a conventional Games Village, which is the norm, the State intends to invest in standardised homestays to accommodate athletes during the event. These homestays will subsequently become part of Meghalaya’s permanent tourism infrastructure, serving future visitors.Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma stated that an announcement will soon be made to integrate the project into the Chief Minister’s Meghalaya Homestay Mission. He was talking after releasing the Mission document last week in connection with the World Tourism Day celebrations.“Building a typical Games Village, which costs more than ₹100 crore, often leads to legacy issues as to what to do with it after the event. This will be the first of its experiment in the country,” Mr. Sangma said.He added that Cherrapunji will be developed as a solar-powered destination thanks to the allocation of ₹260 crore for the project by the Union Government after it approved the roadmap and plan submitted by Meghalaya. This is in addition to the ₹3,625 crore currently being invested in 210 tourism infrastructure projects across the State.“The number of domestic tourists visiting Meghalaya rose from 14 lakh in 2023 to 16 lakh in 2024, while international arrivals increased from 2 lakh to 2.3 lakh. The tourism sector directly and indirectly employs 50,000 individuals, and our goal is to double this figure within three years,” Mr. Sangma said.He asserted that these numbers were testament of the change in the tourism sector of the State. The growth has been steady and sustained, rather than marked by sporadic surges, thanks to well-planned strategies and long-term policies.Mr. Sangma launched an updated and user-friendly website for Meghalaya tourism and arguably the first of its kind multilingual tourism helpline (1800 599 2026) in the country.Meghalaya is expected to have eight five-star hotels added to its tourism infrastructure by 2030. While two projects are slated for completion within two years, two others, including one in Tura, are in the tendering phase, and an additional two are currently in the conceptual stage.(The writer was in Meghalaya at the invitation of Meghalaya Tourism) Published - October 02, 2025 01:04 pm IST