Face Of Sustainable Tourism In India Tourism Essay

Talking about sustainable tourism, a crucial question comes to our mind that have we achieved any success till now. This question is crucial since in several countries sustainable tourism or ecotourism or other forms of tourism that generally talks of similar objectives stated almost for a couple of decades by now. However, evidences suggest that if for the time being we keep aside other components of sustainable tourism and focus on the environmental aspect of it, it is quite a controversial topic. The reason being total carbon emissions from tourism activities in absolute term have been increasing unabatedly though it has declined to some extent on per capita basis. The primary reason for the increase of carbon emissions from tourism activities is increase in number of tourists significantly. And, in that too international tourism has been increased significantly during the last decade or so.

Aviation industry itself is responsible for more than 40% of carbon emission that can be attributed to tourism activities. About 25% can be attributed to other surface transport. Fortunately, since technology has improved tremendously and rate of emissions has been reduced in all segments involved with tourism activities, we have been able to reduce per capita emissions of carbon and other green house gases. But, the reduction rate is not enough to meet the targets set for the tourism sector. If we need to meet the target set for 2020 regarding reducing carbon foot print of tourism sector, per year reduction rate should be about 6% from now onwards which is not only difficult but impossible.

Objective

we have discussed mostly negative about achieving sustainable tourism. However, that is not a complete picture. Several initiatives have been taken from all different stakeholders to adopt sustainability mode, especially in terms of environment. Lots of awareness generation activities, regulatory aspects, knowledge transfer, and sustainable business practices have been experienced by the tourism sector all over the world, particularly, in developed countries. The prime reason why this topic has been raised today is the importance of governance in driving sustainable tourism goals. Though there are positive governance shown in bits and pieces in some cases, in general the policies can be considered as a failure. To prove the governance as an “effective instrument” to reduce environmental impacts of sustainable tourism, “policy learning” is a must based on previous and new experiences.

Scope

 A new dimension has been added by sustainable tourism that includes both the conservation and preservation of the physical and cultural environment of a particular region. Hence, under sustainable tourism natural resources of the locality are to be located within the parameters which would not degrade the natural assets and the traditional livelihood of the community.

By a positive approach, efforts are carried on to encourage the community members to set the pace and direction of tourism development in a manner consistent with their lifestyle and tradition in order to respect the cultural heritage of every region. Integrated .community participation between the local people, the local government and national level plan makers has to be adopted.

Ecology and economy are becoming ever more interwoven. Protection of the environment land development of tourism should not be seen as separate challenges. In order to be economically sustainable tourism must be environmentally sustainable to both the natural and the human environments.

It is the responsibility of the local community to wisely manage their regional assets for their own advancement and for a better quality of life. Clean physical surroundings and protected environment would provide better quality of life to the local community and the tourist alike.

Sustainable Tourism defined by World Tourism Report

The World Tourism Report defines sustainable tourism “as a model form of economic development that exemplifies stewardship of environment and sensitivity to community and cultural aspirations.” 

The World Tourism Report signifies senses that the alienation of local inhabitants and takes into consideration the various sensitive issues while evolving the strategies of sustainable tourism. It realizes the sense of deprivation and marginalization of the local inhabitants.

According to the Report the broader vision could incorporate following guidelines for development of Sustainable tourism globally:

1) Tourism planning, development and operations should be in the spirit of sustainable development in being cross- sectoral and integrated, involving different government agencies, private corporations, citizens groups and individuals so as to provide for the widest possible benefits.

2) Agencies, corporations, groups and individuals should follow ethical principle which respects the culture and environment of the host area, the economy and traditional way of life, the community and traditional behavior, leadership and political patterns.

3) Due regard should be given to the protection and appropriate economic use of the natural and human environment in the host areas.

4) Tourism should be undertaken with equity in mind, with the idea of access to a fair distribution of benefits and costs among tourism promoters and host peoples and their areas.

5) Good information, research and communication on the nature of tourism and its effects on the human and cultural environment should be available prior to and during development. This information should be known to all parties, including the local people, so that they are in a position to participate in and influence the direction of, development in their area.

6) Local people should be encouraged to undertake leadership roles in the planning and development of their regional assets with the assistance of government, financial, business and other interests.

7) There should be integrated environmental, social and economic planning to link with existing uses, ways of life and environmental considerations.

8) Careful monitoring should be done to allow local community to take advantage of opportunities offered by new change.

Face of sustainable tourism in India

Sustainable tourism practices in India are not new, bound together by the twin

Travel dicta of Bharat Darshan and Atithi Devo Bhavah, now known the world over

Through the medium of the Incredible !ndia campaign.

In the fragile eco-systems, this takes on another crucial dimension. Local

Communities become the motive force for sustainable practices, especially in the

Preservation of cultural identities and natural heritage. While tempering the

Impact of the ecological footprint, this can also create the pressure point for an

Equitable local share in the economic benefits of tourism.

These considerations continue to be central to the Ministry of Tourism’s

Formulation of proposals for the 12th Five Year Plan.

This publication brings these strands together, with the expectation that tourism

Today will enable future communities and travelers to also gain from sustainable,

inclusive experiences.

12th Five Year Plan through Plan through the

following measures:

Major social awareness campaign under the ‘Atithi Devo Bhavah’

Initiative

Involving schools, NGOs, industry associations, etc. in carrying out

sustained cleanliness drives at important tourist destinations.

Suitable incentives and awards will be provided to all organizations

and individuals involved in this initiative

Top most priority will be given for sanctioning Central Financial

Assistance for setting up of way-side amenities, bio-degradable

toilets, etc.

Target of 12th Five Year Plan for Growth of Foreign and Domestic Tourist

While making efforts for the targeted 12th Five Year Plan growth in Foreign and domestic tourists, the Ministry will endeavour to make the growth sustainable. This is proposed to be achieved through the following measures:

Sustainable Tourism criteria for India (STCI) and indicators for hotels,

tour operators have been finalized. Similarly, the criteria and indicators

for rural tourism and home-stays are being evolved. Action will be

initiated for Tourism industry constituents not yet covered.

The scope of Market Development Assistance scheme would be enlarged

to cover participation of representatives of recognised national

associations in workshops/ seminars on sustainable tourism organised

by reputed organisations in India or overseas.

Training of various stake holders under the existing plan schemes of the

Ministry.

Role of Governments – Central, State and Local

Governments – Central, State and Local – have a critical role in determining the policies for sustainable tourism. Moreover, many policies and much of the legislation surrounding sustainable tourism falls in the area of governance, such as land use, labour laws, environmental regulations and waste disposal. One of

the primary functions of the Government in enhancing Sustainable Tourism is

therefore to create an environment that enables or influences the private sector to

operate more sustainably, and influences patterns of visitor flows and behaviour

to optimize the impact of tourism. Positive intervention by the Government is thus

necessary, going beyond providing an enabling environment

Against this background, it was considered necessary to define criteria for

sustainable tourism to suit Indian conditions, specifically taking cognizance of

India’s attainments in sustainability while also considering criteria generated by

other sources including GSTC. As several stakeholders in sustainable tourism such

as airlines etc fall outside the ambit of Ministry of Tourism, Government of India,

the Sustainable Tourism Criteria for India at present include only the tour

operators and the accommodation sectors which come directly within the

Ministry’s purview.

National Workshop on Sustainable Tourism Criteria for India

Accordingly, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India convened a National

Workshop on Sustainable Tourism Criteria for India in July 2010.

Based on the recommendations of this National Workshop on Sustainable Tourism

Criteria for India, a sub-committee chaired by Joint Secretary (Tourism),

Government of India and comprising expert stakeholders was constituted in 2010

for defining Sustainable Tourism Criteria for India (STCI) and indicators.

Key concerns kept in mind by the Committee were :

The key concerns for STCI , Ministry of Tourism, Government of India are as follows below

(i) Carrying capacity.

(ii) Anthropogenic character, applying to all major human impacts on the

environment.

(iii) Local community participation, engagement and benefit.

(iv) Ministry of Environment & Forests, Government of India guidelines.

(v) Bio-degradable toilets.

(vi) Water harvesting.

(vii) Lessons from successes and failures, national & international.

(viii) Institutional certification and viewpoints: ISO, BIS, BEE, LEED etc.

(ix) Polluter Pays Principle.

Sustainable Tourism Criteria for India (STCI) and indicators

The Sustainable Tourism Criteria for India (STCI) and indicators, evolved by the Committee for the accommodation sector and the tour operators sector together with two case references, are annexed with this Report.

The ratification of these indicators and criteria by the industry associations has

progressed well and they are now accordingly planned for implementation.

Among the ensuing tasks the foremost is implementation of the criteria and

indicators for tour operators and the accommodation sector and the development

of criteria and indicators for rural tourism and home-stays and other sectors.

The implementation of Sustainable Tourism Criteria for India will progress on the basis of:

1. Workshops to advocate sustainability by the Ministry of Tourism,

Government of India for all stakeholders across the regions of the country.

2. Extensive range of incentives for establishments complying with STCI,

specially focusing on international market access through the Ministry’s

Market Development Assistance scheme and also operational advantage

concerning energy, water and other input requirements as feasible.

3. Ministry of Tourism, Government of India support to proposals from all

tourism sector associations for skill development as in ‘Hunar Se Rozgar’ for

unskilled, low-skilled and, semi-skilled and craftsperson categories.

4. MSME tourism service providers to be specially supported after meeting eligibility and STCI compliance conditions.

5. Certification through innovative use of existing mechanisms, there being to

need for appointing consultants or a project monitoring unit.

6. Training of Trainers for Sustainable Tourism through institutional

arrangements.

7. School and college curricula to incorporate sustainable tourism.

8. Advance calendar of participatory activies displayed on the Ministry’s

website.

9. Capacity building in industry and the Government by identifying institutions

for developing a pool of trainers, training of trainers, etc.

10. Evolving governance coefficients, using contemporary technology, for

incorporation in the rating / approval mechanism to enable realistic

monitoring and evaluation of sustainable tourism implementation by all

tourism industry constituents.

Projects Undertaken towards development of Sustainable Toursim

Charitable Projects within India

Greaves is dedicated to preserving the natural habitats of the places we serve and to improve the welfare of the people and communities who live in these areas. We are committed to a set of environmental ethics.

Below are some of the projects, Greaves are presently involved with and support through private and company contributions

Jaisalmer in Jeopard :

Greaves Travel has developed and maintained strong links with heritage conservation bodies working in India, particularly ‘Jaisalmer in Jeopardy’ (JiJ). Founded in 1996 by writer and photographer Sue Carpenter, with Mehera Dalton, Managing Director of Greaves Travel as a founder trustee and also Chairman of JIJ. Dalton is committed to the conservation of Indian heritage and has helped to sponsor JiJ’s events and site visits to Jaisalmer, as well as organised tours of JiJ projects.

JiJ’s objectives, as set out in its charity deeds, are “To secure, for the benefit of the public, the preservation and protection of the architectural and historical heritage of Jaisalmer and to educate the public in the history and architecture of the city”.

Rehwa Soceity:

Handloom weaving in Maheshwar has an ancient history, dating back to some 1500 years. The Maharaja of Indore from the Holker family, established the ‘Rehwa Society’ to revitalize this cottage industry. Today, through the Rehwa Society, the weavers can preserve this ancient Indian skill and look forward to preserving the traditions of this craftsmanship. Visits to Ahilya Vihar and the Ahilya School can be arranged as part of a tour to the region with accommodation at the gorgeous Ahilya Fort.

Greaves supports this art and industry, by purchasing their products, selling them and repatriating the funds to Rehwa. This helps to ensure the independence of the women weavers, providing them with their own source of income, which in turn, ensures their way of life and their family’s prosperity. Learn more about Rehwa projects by visiting their website www.rehwasociety.org Contact Greaves to arrange a private visit and tour of the Rehwa projects.

Happy Home & School for the Blind ,Mumbai ,India :

The entry way of a low built building in Worli, Mumbai, is decorated with a gorgeous life size mural of the tree of life. When you look closer, you will see that the mural has been made of tiny mosaic tiles, perfectly aligned and colour coordinated to create the beautiful design. This is the first example of the wonderful work of the blind children in this school. These designs, along with other mosaics created by the blind children in The Happy Home & School For The Blind, have been printed on Christmas cards. Greaves was proud to support the school by sponsoring the production and printing of these cards. This provided a lucrative source of funds for the school as the cards proved to be extremely popular and were sold out immediately. Greaves continues to provide support.

A visit to this school is inspiring not just for the atmosphere of hope and spotless surroundings, but to witness the possibilities that these children now have and the doors that are now open to them and their future. Meher Banaji’s many years of dedication as Principal, have given these children of India a home where they are cared for and trained to live a productive life.

Greaves would be happy to arrange a visit to the school when you are in Mumbai,

Travel Operation for Tigers :

Travel Operators for Tigers (TOFT) was created as a UK travel industry campaign, in cooperation with Global Tiger Patrol (GTP) and the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA).

The basic premise of the TOFT campaign is that legal, responsible, well managed tourism into India’s finest wildernesses and Tiger Reserves is the very best way to save the forests of India and its tigers. Tourism provides the economic imperative and the best reason for protecting Tigers, and if protected, a natural flow of protecting the landscapes and habitats that they exist on becomes invaluable and critically undervalued ‘ecological services’ that forests and their biodiversity provide in terms in water storage, medicines and carbon sinks to name just a few.

For every wild life tour booked with Greaves, we make a contribution of £10.00 per person, which is sent to the TOFT campaign for use on host of visible TOFT sponsored projects in and around Project Tiger Parks. TOFT projects are presently in India’s National Parks of Bandhavgarh, Kanha, Panna, Pench, Ranthambore and Corbett. See our ‘A A Jungle Journey’ holiday tour for ideas on visiting some of these parks during your visit.

For more information on TOFT and how to become more involved, contact Greaves or visit the TOFT website at www.toftigers.org

Salaam Baalak Trust:

Salaam Baalak Trust runs five 24-hour full care shelters for children, one being devoted to girl children. These shelters, located in Delhi and Gurgaon, provide the children security, a sense of home, and an opportunity to receive all the critical inputs of childhood. They aim at restoring the childhood in children besides instilling in them the values of independence and decision-making, education and social values and financial self-dependence to become mature and responsible citizen of the country and caring and responsive members of the society.

For our travellers, Greaves arranges interesting city walks through the streets of the inner city of Paharganj and the New Delhi railway station area. These spirited youngsters of India will take you on a tour while sharing with you the journey of their lives. The walk is given from the perspective of the guides who enjoy sharing their lives and experiences.

The walk includes the living and built heritage of the area, taking you down the back streets to find hidden cultural practices and gives you a feel for life here in yesteryear. You will also see how the trust provides opportunities for street children of India and see what amazing things they can achieve when given an opportunity.

The city walk aims to sensitize people to the lives of street children in India. It’s a unique way of engaging people in the lives of children in distress. The walking tour also provides an opportunity for the young people of India to improve their communication and speaking skills. All proceeds go directly to the trust to enable more opportunities to be made for street children so the walk is 100% non-profit making.

USAID India:

USAID India focuses on the environmentally degraded neighborhoods within Agra near the Taj Mahal monument. The Crosscutting Program (CAP) is aimed at engaging youth and women from disadvantaged communities of India to address issues of livelihoods, sanitation and environment improvement in selected low-income settlements in the city. The project works to increase livelihoods and provide infrastructure upgrades around a Heritage Trail of lesser-known monuments in Agra.

CAP has empowered these communities of India by organizing community groups with the capacity to address their livelihood needs. At the community level there are now more organized groups addressing a diverse set of needs and participating in project implementation.

Women of India in particular have been empowered through their involvement in livelihood groups. They learn to operate bank accounts, receive and deposit check payments, manage finances and deal with clients and are now more financially secure and better able to advocate for their rights within their family.

Women of India in particular have been empowered through their involvement in livelihood groups. They learn to operate bank accounts, receive and deposit check payments, manage finances and deal with clients and are now more financially secure and better able to advocate for their rights within their family.

Building Knowledge and Capabilities for development of Tourism Sector in India

According to Ministry of tourism, Government of India with their active interactions with their stakeholders, various plans and programmes would be continuously prepared and implemented. Knowledge and capabilities of the officers and staff would be enhanced by refresher training programmes, deputing them to national and international seminars/ workshops on new areas of tourism development site visits to successful tourism spots, learning from the best practices around the world, etc. Regular market surveys and studies will be carried out to understand the requirements of tourists as also the impact of past promotional measures to take requisite corrective or new policy initiatives.

There are certain estimated priorities by Government with following weightage :

Interpretation of Data

We have interpreted above data from various primary and secondary sources a. One of the general objectives of the Indian Tourism Policy (2002) is to …’substantially increase the proportion of the urban resident leisure and pilgrimage tourism to rural areas….’. It proposes the development of tourist services in villages and rural regions located off the beaten tourist tracks. To this effect, in collaboration with the UNDP, it initiated a public rural tourism program geared towards all round, instantaneous village development: the Endogenous Tourism Project / Rural Tourism Scheme. The project was meant to be implemented in 31 villages across 20 states. Most of these villages harbored traditional artisans (weavers, potters, sculptors, block printers and the like) who were thought to attract tourists. Local or nearby NGOs were identified as the most important implementing agents in the otherwise ‘community-owned’ project.

To protect the environment, enhance host community heritage and enrich the visitor’s experience … The new tourism will be community-owned, culturally expressive and environmentally sustainable.

Initiatives for Boosting Sustainable Tourism:

• To develop audits, scoping projects and preliminary assessments of tourism

Development potential in regions;

• To identify tourism and heritage issues which need to be considered in management?

Regional or business planning;

• To develop regional heritage and tourism strategic plans and action plans;

• To assist in developing business plans for new or existing heritage tourism products;

• To foster more effective planning for infrastructure development at heritage places &

• To evaluate options and establish a stronger business case for an idea or proposal.

Guidelines influencing Sustainable tourism in India:

• Inclusive decision-making

• Sustainable development

• Tourism and heritage principles

• Appropriate tourism development.

Inclusive decision-making

Four key perspectives are involved in tourism and heritage – those of tourism operators, heritage managers, visitors and the community. They all have particular ideas, issues and interests. If all groups are to benefit, the perspectives of these groups need to be considered in making decisions for the future.

Sustainable development

Sustainable development needs to address economic, social and environmental issues. Many businesses now include social and environmental factors as part of their performance measurement.

Tourism and heritage principles

An important complementary publication to this framework is Successful Tourism at Heritage Places. It sets out principles, guidelines and case studies that illustrate success factors in tourism at natural and cultural heritage places.

The principles from Successful Tourism at Heritage Places underpin this framework and should be a starting point for discussions and collaboration. They are: 1. recognize the importance of heritage places

2. Look after heritage places

3. Develop mutually beneficial partnerships

4. Incorporate heritage issues into business planning

5. Invest in people and place

6. Market and promote products responsibly

7. Provide high-quality visitor experiences

8. Respect Indigenous rights and obligations.

Appropriate tourism development

Steps to Sustainable Tourism sets out an approach to help develop appropriate long-term solutions for tourism at places with natural and cultural heritage values. It also seeks ways to support growth in the tourism industry while ensuring that conservation needs are met.

Tourism will not be an option for some environments or heritage places where it is incompatible with the special values or management objectives of a place. Using the process in this guide will enable you to assess whether this is the case.

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Conclusion

Sustainable tourism cannot be viewed in isolation as an end in itself, since so many elements of tourism are in fact interdependent and linked to other elements of living, doing business and community life. So, it should also be looked at, not in isolation, but within a ‘balanced’ framework of indicators. We should mainly aim to work within 4 elements – the Visitor, the Industry (Businesses/Economy), the ENVIRONMENT and lastly the Community to look at overall tourism development. So sustainable tourism development then becomes a function of each of these four principles or elements and relates to each of them and how they have a cause and effect on each other interdependently. Definitely, more work required within this area.

Sustainable tourism could be stated as ,

” The RIGHT VISITOR product and service

provided and offered within the RIGHT COMMUNITY

which produces the RIGHT ECONOMIC (industry) impact and value

in order to maintain and sustain the RIGHT ENVIRONMENT locally..”