ARE ‘TOURISM’ AND ‘SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT’ SELF-CONTRADICTORY?

ARE ‘TOURISM’ AND ‘SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT’ SELF-CONTRADICTORY?

ON WORLD TOURISM DAY, KAMLESH PANDYA LOOKS UP THE CHALLENGE OF ‘TOURISM & SUSTAINABLE ENERGY: POWERING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT’

    Atithi Devo Bhava – the guest is like God. Nothing expresses the hidden potential of Indian tourism better than this ancient term, and foreign tourists visiting ‘Incredible India’ have experienced Indian hospitality across locations where nature is fast being over-run by human habitat.
    World Tourism Day (WTD) 2012 is being celebrated on September 27 this year, with the theme, ‘Tourism & Sustainable Energy: Powering Sustainable Development’, effectively it invites stakeholders in tourism, from governments to businesses and tourists themselves, to learn more about the sustainable energy initiatives in place in the tourism sector, debate what more should be done and advance the use of sustainable energy in tourism. "Sustainable Tourism is emerging as a popular trend in the tourism industry. It is a process that takes care of tomorrow as well as today, by conserving resources to ensure sustainability of the destination,” says Rajeev Wagle, MD, Kuoni India. Indian travellers are becoming conscious about their contribution towards conserving and preserving the environmental and cultural heritage of the destination visited, says Wagle.
    Speaking about World Tourism Day, Lubna Sheerazi who heads Oman Tourism’s India office, says the purpose is to foster awareness among the international community of the importance of tourism and its social, cultural, political and economic value. “The event seeks to address global challenges outlined in the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and to highlight the contribution the tourism sector can make in reaching these goals,” she adds.
    “Tourism is leading the way in some of the world’s most innovative sustainable energy initiatives,” said UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai in his official WTD message. “Energy efficient upgrades to aircraft, the shift to renewable fuel for aviation and cruise liners, energy technology solutions in hotels, as well as countless other initiatives are placing tourism at the forefront of the clean energy transformation. These initiatives are crucial for sustainable development,” said the UNWTO Secretary General. These help to cut tourism’s carbon emissions, enable businesses to grow, create jobs and bring modern and affordable energy services to some of the world’s most vulnerable communities – goals in line with the ‘2012 UN International Year of Sustainable Energy for All.’
    The WTD 2012 campaign includes the annual WTD photo competition, the Twitter competition and access to resources on the relationship between tourism and energy. “This year, UNWTO has also inviting travellers to visit the ‘online energy school’, as part of Hotel Energy Solutions, a UNWTOinitiated project designed to help hoteliers cut their carbon emissions and costs,” says Nehal Jani, who runs a London-based travel services agency. “The launch of the WTD campaign came after governments, the private sector, civil society and other groups meeting at the UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) committed US$ 323 billion to achieving sustainable energy for all by 2030,” he adds.Official WTD celebrations take place on 27 September in Maspalomas, Gran Canaria, Spain, and include a Think Tank on the 2012 theme with the participation of top experts and policy makers in the field of tourism and energy. “The Think Tank will be one of hundreds of events taking place around the world in celebration of WTD,” adds.
    Wagle points out how the ‘Incredible India’ and the ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’ campaigns were brilliant initiatives which went a long way towards supporting sustainable tourism in India. “It is the best of the two worlds, ancient and modern - both these campaigns made tourists aware of India's rich cultural heritage and also promoted India as a safe tourist destination," he adds.
    A maturing Indian travel market is one more trend that is emerging, says Manoharan Periasamy, Tourism Malaysia Director. “The Indian Outbound Travel Market is expected to increase at a compounded growth rate of over 25 per cent over the period 2010 to 2015. With a population of more than 1.1 billion and GDP growth of more than 8 per cent per
annum, the country offers enormous potential for future growth in outbound travel,” he adds.
    UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai had called on all tourism stakeholders to ‘play their part’ in reaching the United Nations goal of achieving sustainable energy for all by 2030. With growing focus on tourism powering sustainable development, it might just make a paradigm shift in how tourism impacts the environment!

The tourism industry is indeed well placed to drive home the message of ecofriendly tourism. For instance, hotels can use energy saving light bulbs, promote conservation of water in kitchens, bathrooms and use solar energy as much as possible. Let September 27 be the day for the tourism fraternity to initiate concrete goals-oriented plans to contribute towards sustainability.
    - Amal Purandare
    head, India operations, Arzoo.com