Introduction
Tourism and sustainability often may not go hand in hand, after all, tourism is all about leisure whereas sustainability is about consciousness. However, in recent times, several attempts have been made to amalgamate the two. This Tertiary Sector Industry that offers significant contribution to the economic facade of a country has been in the process of being, or at least trying to be, more and more green.
Sustainable Tourism is essentially creating an environment-loving industry essentially set in the backdrop of culture, history and heritage. Sustainability may only be a neoteric occurrence of protecting and preserving the environment, but sustainable Tourism in India is no newfangled phenomenon. For years the local Indian communities have been striving to protect nature and preserve it for the future.
As the tourism sector continues to expand globally, researchers have increasingly focused on understanding the benefits and challenges of sustainable tourism development.
Sustainable Tourism essentially leads to environmental benefits, but another major plus to it is the benefit to the local communities. When sustainable tourism practices grow, it leads to greater reliance on local resources and the utilization of the local manpower, which naturally elevates the economic well-being of local communities who are often at the forefront of promoting these measures. The closer together sustainability and tourism move, the further the well-being of local communities grows.
Sustainable tourism also leads to several positive outcomes in terms of its impacts of enhancing the cultural identity and heritage of a community and place while honouring its local history. This creates a sense of belonging and pride, enhancing the roots and traditions of local culture. Another benefit is the enhancement of tourist & local community relationships, built on the ground of shared fondness for a culture rooted in history and heritage, presented as a great outcome of local resources and hardship of local people.
Sustainable Tourism lies on its three pillars built on social factors, environmental factors and economic factors. These three alongside being codependent in many ways are also a determinant of how well the sustainability initiatives are fairing up in a region.
Critical Appraisal
The demands of increasingly affluent consumers for further common and ‘exotic’ situations have made an upsurge in ecotourism, especially in developing nations. Concurrently, inside western nations wild regions and lands involved by inborn people groups have been opened up to the tourism industry. It is accurately these more inaccessible, less created tourism zones that ecotourists look for which are most powerless to social disturbance and environmental degradation. While a few journalists accentuate the potential for ecotourism to advance the well-being of both nearby people groups and their situations, others caution us from uncritically tolerating ecotourism as a common great. Numerous administrative offices and tourism scholastics have been caught up in the ‘modern’, as far as anyone knows ‘new’, shapes of tourism such as ecotourism and social tourism. There is to some degree mixed-up conviction that these shapes of tourism are by one means or another morally predominant. At home, with the terms ecotourism and social tourism regularly being utilized simply as showcasing instruments, such shapes of tourism are now and then morally second rate. When commerce is the primary driving constraint behind ecotourism it is not shocking that the wanders that develop may serve to estrange, or maybe benefit, neighbourhood communities.
A community-based approach to ecotourism addresses that ecotourism should inherently have twofold benefits, improving the quality of life of the local people and ensuring the conservation of resources. In some African Communities, for example, it is recognised that the local communities should be financially compensated for the loss of resources due to various development projects. In New Zealand, meanwhile, Maori communities are using ecotourism as a means of sustainably utilizing physical resources at their disposal in a way that can provide employment options. Ngai Tahu, for example, are trained local people who deliver information to complement various tourist activities. They aim to ensure that Ngai Tahu people are trained to ensure ecotourism is both socially and economically sustainable, and the respect for lost traditions are also revived as local livelihood improves.
One way to to perceive sustainable tourism is to look at it from a developmental perspective while working on the environmental, social and economic faces. The key is to ensure the best interest of the host communities. The advantages can often be short-termed, which in the long run does more harm than good for these communities.
There is still a section of people, quite substantial in number, who view sustainable ecotourism as purely an environmental motive, its factors set out to work in the favor of the environment and not the people surrounding it, or at best, prioritizing the environment over local communities. Whether this approach is right or wrong is debatable, afterall how is one to decide what’s more important, the welfare and advancements of Indigenous people and local communities who have faced the turmoil of loss of livelihood for centuries for development’s sake, or the constantly depleting environment which calls for urgent action before things become inevitably bad.
Impact on local communities:
There are both advantages and drawbacks of sustainable tourism for local communities. First, we’ll delve into the perks-
The advantages range through various economic advancements, such as creation of new jobs and greater demand for local resources. This leads to more income opportunities for people living in or near tourist spots. The advantages are beyond just economic and financial, as ecotourists have the opportunity to learn more about a culture’s customs, beliefs, language, and food habits. This leads to the preservation of local culture and heritage and even further enhancement. As travellers from across the globe have a taste of local culture and local people get the opportunity to showcase their local traditions and the humanities, an amiable association is built between the two, strengthening global oneness.
There Are also considerable drawbacks to this practice. Oftentimes we see local people losing their traditional way of life. Locals can be exploited in various ways, such as using them for cheap labour. Local people lose their traditional way of life as they become accustomed to ‘Western’ cultures. Sometimes, the local people are simply used as attractions for getting stereotypical photos of traditional people. Many companies that run ecotourism trips profit most, while local people earn very little money. Infrastructure is often only beneficial to tourists, e.g. airports as local people cannot afford to use it.
Conclusion
Sustainable Tourism is not an all-fixing one stop solution to solve the problems of ecological degradation or the impoverished providence of various local communities across the globe. It’s an initiative with its own sets of plus and snags. But if things are done in the right way in this area, the potential is prodigious. The local economy can grow by manifold, all while we make this world a better, more breathable place.
Sustainable Tourism activities should Have minimal impact on the environment and local people. They should Build environmental and cultural awareness and respect & Provide positive experiences for both visitors and hosts. They should Provide direct financial benefits for conservation and sustainability. The economic benefits should empower local people, as ecotourism should be managed by locals. visitors’ understanding of the country’s political, environmental and social circumstances should be increased. We must encourage stewardship and conservation of the natural environment while respecting local traditions.
In conclusion, given we take the right measures and are mindful of its implementation, sustainable tourism can be a win-win situation for millions of indigenous people around the globe, and the many globetrotters.
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