Take a New Turn in Arunachal: Where Journeys Matter More Than A Checklist

At Arunachal House in New Delhi this week, India’s easternmost state made a quiet but confident pitch to the modern traveller: slow down, turn away from the obvious, and step into a place where journeys matter more than checklists.

With the launch of its new tourism campaign, Take a New Turn in Arunachal, the Department of Tourism, Government of Arunachal Pradesh, is attempting something more ambitious than another glossy destination push. Instead, it is reframing the idea of travel itself – away from postcard views and towards lived experience, cultural intimacy and the unexpected moments that unfold when the road bends without warning.

Presiding over the launch, Pasang Dorjee Sona, Arunachal Pradesh’s minister for tourism, education and public works, described a land shaped as much by history and belief as by geography. Snow-bound monasteries, dense forests, high-altitude passes and river valleys are only part of the story, he suggested. What makes Arunachal distinctive is the human presence within these landscapes – its tribal cultures, festivals, faiths and daily rituals, still largely untouched by mass tourism.

 

The campaign builds on the state’s refreshed tourism identity, Beyond Myths and Mountains, introduced last year. The message is clear: Arunachal Pradesh does not want to be seen merely as a remote Himalayan backdrop. It wants to be understood as a living, layered frontier – one that rewards curiosity, patience and openness.

Six destinations anchor this new narrative. Tawang, often defined by its famous monastery, is recast as a space of spiritual depth set against vast Himalayan horizons. Ziro’s rolling plateaus become a study in rhythm and resilience, shaped by indigenous Apatani culture. In Anini, lakes and waterfalls emerge from near-total isolation, while Namsai’s monasteries and rivers speak to a quieter, riverine spirituality.

Then there is Dong, where the sun rises first over India, and Mechukha, a high-altitude valley where adventure sports and stillness coexist. In the campaign films and visuals, these places are not empty landscapes. They are populated by chance encounters, shared meals, fleeting conversations and moments of warmth that feel unplanned and unscripted.

This shift in storytelling comes at a moment of renewed confidence for Arunachal’s tourism sector. After the disruption of the pandemic years, the state recorded more than one million tourist visits in both 2023 and 2024 – a notable increase on pre-Covid figures. Improved road access, better air connectivity and a growing appetite among Indian travellers for offbeat destinations have all played their part.

Behind the scenes, the state government is working to support this growth without tipping into overexposure. A new tourism policy promises expanded accommodation capacity, upgraded visitor facilities and a sharper focus on experiential travel. Farm stays, eco-tourism, spiritual circuits, adventure trails, tribal tourism and even border tourism are all being positioned as part of a deliberately diversified offering.

There is, at least on paper, an emphasis on sustainability – on ensuring that growth benefits local communities and preserves the fragile ecosystems that make Arunachal so compelling in the first place. The tourism department is also partnering with travel platforms and tour operators to improve access while attempting to manage the flow of visitors more responsibly.

For travellers, the invitation is not to “see everything” but to linger. To accept that in Arunachal, plans change with the weather, roads disappear into mist, and conversations often matter more than landmarks. It is a place where travel can feel less like consumption and more like participation.

As Minister Sona put it, the idea of Arunachal Pradesh has “resplendence ingrained in it” – not as spectacle, but as experience. With Take a New Turn in Arunachal, the state is betting that a growing number of travellers are ready to follow roads that do not always promise easy answers, but offer richer stories in return.

In an age of over-tourism and algorithm-driven itineraries, that may be Arunachal’s quietest – and strongest – selling point.