US expert Douglas Michele Turco said this while coordinating a regional round table conference on Sports as Agenda for Employment Generation in North East India, organised by the Rajiv Gandhi Indian Institute of Management, Shillong, in association with the Assam sports and youth welfare department here today.
Elaborating on the potential of the region, he said proper marketing of sporting events, whether professional or indigenous, by roping in competent expertise could draw the attention and help create a tourist-friendly atmosphere.
Turco said a sports sponsorship consultancy was one of the most feasible entrepreneurship in today’s India because it not only generates employment but also helps usher in professionalism.
Utilisation of natural resources like the hills and rivers as well as the sandbanks as adventure sports avenues could generate employment for entrepreneurs as well as give a boost to the tourism sector.
Sports department officials from Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Tripura and Mizoram, along with Sports Authority of India, Guwahati centre director in-charge Subhash Basumatary and Assam employment director Molay Bora attended the conference. Turco, however, said similar discussions should be held involving officials from the tourism department as well as the chambers of commerce.
Veteran sports writer Suren Ram Phookun suggested the creation of a sports goods industrial estate in Assam, which he said would generate employment as well as reduce the cost of products usually imported. He suggested that the government should take the initiative so that investors come forward to take up the endeavour.
Other employment avenues linked with sports were also discussed.