CB BureauAn offhand question: Which are the eco-destinations in
India? Suppose I am an eco-conscious tourist in the excruciating habit of
calculating/guesstimating the ecological cost of random getaways, which are
the destinations I might choose from?
Who among my fellow holidaymakers are intent on reducing
their carbon footprint? Is it taking things too far if one were to make travel
strategies that aim to neutralize carbon emissions even before one sets off?
How many travellers have you encountered who are willing to plan journeys such
that they avoid multiple take-offs and landings by plane? Will you think me a
complete moron for preferring destinations closer to home “ so I can hop on to
a bus or a train to reach there, or perhaps even cycle out or down? Or, even if
it is a far-off destination, will my travel agent get it if I ask for an
eco-friendly itinerary?
On another note, let us bypass such pre-holiday strategies.
Let us just be curious, instead.
With respect to India, how has the concept of ecotourism
been understood and implemented? Are there relevant policy guidelines? Tourism
needs business concepts that work economically and socially, so that people in
the destination can benefit from it. How can tour operators integrate CSR in
their business concepts, so that this will promote socially responsible tourism
in a sustainable manner? What are the components of such CSR?
There are no textbook answers, of course. Any answer will
begin with a thought, a spark in the consciousness, and with a back-and-forth
of ideas.
Way bigger than we
thought
The United Nations General Assembly adopted by consensus at
its 65th session, in September 2010, three separate resolutions emphasising the
role of tourism in sustainable development. The three resolutions ”
on the
implementation of the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism, on the promotion of
ecotourism, and on the importance of sustainable tourism for Small Island
Developing States – stress the significance of the sector to the development
agenda in terms of sustainability, employment and poverty elimination.
The resolution on the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism
recognized the need to promote the development of sustainable tourism and
increase the benefits from tourism for host communities, while maintaining
their cultural and environmental integrity and enhancing the protection of
ecologically sensitive areas and natural heritages. Likewise, it recognized the
need to promote the development of sustainable tourism and address the
challenges of climate change and halt the loss of biodiversity.
With international tourism forecast to reach 1.6 billion
arrivals by 2020, members of the United Nations World Tourism Organization
(UNWTO) believe that the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism is needed to help
minimize the negative impacts of tourism on the environment and on cultural
heritage while maximizing the benefits for residents of tourism destinations.
Tourism needs much greater recognition for the positive
impacts it brings to the economy in terms of skills, jobs and income ”
encompassing related sectors such as agriculture, construction,
telecommunications and transportation. It is estimated that the travel and
tourism sector creates more jobs per million rupees of investment plan, than
any other sector of the economy. Going by UNWTO estimates, in 2009
international tourism generated US$ 852 billion in export earnings. From 1950
to 2005, international tourism arrivals expanded at an annual rate of 6.5 per
cent, growing from 25 million to 806 million travellers. While in 1950 the top
15 destinations absorbed 88 per cent of international arrivals, in 1970 the
proportion was 75 per cent and decreased to 57 per cent in 2005, reflecting the
emergence of new destinations, many of them in developing countries.
According to World Travel and Tourism Council, India will be
a tourism hotspot during 2009 – 2018, having the highest 10-year growth
potential. Despite short- and medium-term setbacks, such as shortage of hotel
rooms, tourism revenues are expected to surge by 42 per cent from 2007 to 2017.
This surge translates into $42.8 billion (about Rs 2 trillion) by 2017, as per
an industry research note by auditing and consulting firm Deloitte Touche.
In the Travel and Tourism Competitiveness Report 2009 by the
World Economic Forum, India is ranked 11th in the Asia Pacific region and 62nd
overall, moving up three places on the list of the world’s attractive
destinations. It is ranked the 14th best tourist destination for its natural
resources and 24th for its cultural resources, with many World Heritage Sites,
both natural and cultural, rich fauna, and strong creative industries in the
country. The India travel and tourism industry is expected to be the second
largest employer in the world by 2019.
The hotel and tourism industry’s contribution to the Indian
economy by way of foreign direct investments (FDI) inflows were pegged at US$
2.17 billion from April 2000 to September 2010, according to the Department of
Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP).
India’s hotel pipeline is the second largest in the
Asia-Pacific region according to Jan Smits, Regional Managing Director,
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) Asia Australasia. He added that the Indian
hospitality industry is projected to grow at a rate of 8.8 per cent during
2007″16, placing India as the second-fastest-growing tourism market in the
world. Initiatives like massive investment in hotel infrastructure and open-sky
policies made by the government are all aimed at propelling growth in the hospitality
sector.
The ministry of tourism, India, compiles monthly estimates
of foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) in India and foreign exchange earnings (FEE)
from tourism on the basis of data received from major airports. Let us look at
some revealing numbers as regards these two important indicators of the tourism
sector, for October 2010:
- FTAs in India during October 2010 were 487,000,
as compared to FTAs of 446,000 during the month of October 2009 and 450,000 in
October 2008. - FTAs during January – October 2010 were 4.32
million with a growth rate of 9.9 per cent. - FEE from tourism during the month of October
2010 were US$1.18 billion as compared to US$1.09 billion in October 2009.
The UN General Assembly resolution on the ‘promotion of
ecotourism for poverty eradication and environmental protection’, led by
Morocco and supported by 90 countries, recognized that ecotourism can have
positive impacts on income generation, job creation, education, and, thus, on
the fight against poverty and hunger, and can contribute directly to achieving
the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Further, it recognized that ecotourism
creates significant opportunities for conservation, protection and sustainable
use of natural areas by encouraging local and indigenous communities in host
countries and tourists alike to preserve and respect natural and cultural
heritage.
Shifting minds
Having absorbed the breath-taking numbers mentioned above,
the first thought that strikes one is the level of awareness regarding the
potential that tourism as an industry holds, not just in terms of being a
solid booster of economic growth but also as a catalytic force in the larger
transformation of a place and its people.
India’s National Tourism Policy 2002 has three relevant
points:
1) No one engaged, directly or indirectly, in the tourism
industry should be allowed to secure short-term gains by resorting to what has
been called the darker side of tourism. Neither over-exploitation of natural
resources should be permitted nor the carrying capacity of the tourist sites
ignored.
2) Greater emphasis should be laid on eco-tourism, whose
parameters should be broader than those of nature tourism alone. It must help
in eliminating poverty, in ending unemployment, in creating new skills, in enhancing
the status of women, in preserving cultural heritage, in encouraging tribal and
local crafts, in improving overall environment, and in facilitating growth of a
more just and fair social order.
3) The tourist industry and travel agents should be persuaded
to evolve and adopt voluntarily a code of ethics, and its infringement should
be firmly dealt with by tour and travel associations.
It is possible to have a blueprint on each destination in
the country that has a minimum number of tourists per season/year. This
blueprint then becomes a guide for all participants along the
travel-and-tourism chain – from policymakers to local administration, to travel
agencies, to hospitality hawkers and transport providers, and to the local
populace and the visiting tourists. The crucial thread binding all of these
participants is that of ownership. Ownership of one’s unique role can be the
only reason for feeling truly responsible. And there is no reason to look at
this with any degree of cynicism, because the sentiments of ownership, pride
and responsibility are as natural as the earth itself is.
The vast scope for growth also means that the growth can be
uncontrolled, haphazard and irresponsible. The linkage among the various
service providers is not clear enough, and nor is there any assurance that they
are all oriented towards the same ‘sustainable tourism’ ideal. As a matter of
fact, all broad policy guidelines are in place, but what will need to be seen
is their application on the ground. Unless the transformation is deeper, we may
forget the ‘eco’ as a prefix for tourism. If tourism continues to be seen as a
purely gold-churning industry, in somewhat the same league as mining, and if
squeezing the tourism potential means squeezing a piece of land of all that it
is worth, what we will have on our hands is a saga of deforestation and
declining ecosystems.
In a recent instance, 36 young climate champions from 19
countries submitted the so-called Goa Declaration to the state government,
mooting the idea of local firms chipping in to raise a ‘community eco fund’ in
a bid to restore hinterlands and forest habitats, to combat pollution, and to
promote eco-tourism activities with the involvement of the local people.
Stating that natural resources, including biodiversity, micro-climate, weather
patterns and land-based livelihoods are all interlinked, the declaration
suggested sensitizing school children, the media and others to conservation
issues through various means.
‘Exponential growth in activities such as mining and tourism
has resulted in deforestation and the decline of ecosystems, pushing them
towards their tipping points,’ the memo stated. There was also the suggestion
that service providers be subject to a progressive tax for the resources used
and that these be distributed for conservation.
Before concluding, let us consider another perspective: Can
eco-tourism be an achievable goal until the traveller learns to appreciate its
relevance learns to see that the journey that he or she undertakes to a
different place is not all about ‘taking a break’ and ‘sightseeing’? We have to
remember that we are looking for eco-tourism patronage among people who would
perhaps not think twice, perhaps, not think at all, before leaving behind a
plastic bottle or a non-biodegradable piece of plastic as a telltale sign of
the good memories they just created. The problem is not that he or she is a
cruel, enemy-of-the-ecology person; the problem is that the thought that it is
an ecological crime has not struck at all.
Till the time even one-fourth of the population is
unthinking, passive, ecologically illiterate, any talk of eco-tourism will
remain largely idle and aimless, garbled pieces of ecological irrelevance.
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