MoT to roll out many sustainable tourism initiatives on World Environment Day

The Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, is preparing to roll out a slew of initiatives to bring sustainable and responsible tourism to the forefront of the tourism framework of the country. These initiatives will be rolled out as part of the World Environment Day celebrations this year. by the Union Tourism Minister, G Kishan Reddy. The Ministry will be hosting a national seminar on developing sustainable and responsible tourism destinations in the national capital Delhi on June 4 where tourism. As per the information shared by the Ministry with the stakeholders, the Union Tourism Minister, G Kishan Reddy will unveil officially the national strategy for sustainable tourism and the revised Swadesh Darshan 2.0 scheme, and the much-anticipated Responsible Traveller campaign to create awareness about the Do’s and Don’ts while traveling The Ministry of Tourism notified the National Strategy for Sustainable Tourism in the last week of April and appointed the Indian Institute of Travel and Tourism Management (IITTM), Gwalior as the Central Nodal Agency to assist the Ministry in the implementation of the strategy. Tourism is all-encompassing in Indian tourism, the Ministry has revised its flagship program Swadesh Darshan scheme adding core principles of sustainable and responsible tourism into its framework. Swadesh Darshan Scheme 2.0 will implement sustainable and responsible tourism practices and encourage the adoption of principles of sustainable tourism including environmental sustainability, socio-cultural sustainability, and economic sustainability into all future projects, the Ministry note says. The day-long national seminar will deliberate issues like ‘aligning sustainable tourism to SDG 2030’, ‘tourism as a tool for conservation’, ‘creating carbon neutral destinations’, ‘heritage conservation and socio-cultural sustainability’, etc. As per the program, states like Kerala, Odisha, Sikkim, etc. will share the best practices in responsible tourism, ecotourism master planning, and community-based tourism, respectively. Meanwhile, the latest global Travel & Tourism Development Index by World Economic Forum (WEF) indicates that Indian tourism has a lot of hard work to do on the sustainable development front. While India as a tourism destination has lost 8 positions in the TTDI ranking (from 46th rank in 2019 to 54th in 2021) compared to the last edition, its performance on the sustainability front leaves a lot to be desired among competing destinations On the environmental sustainability front, India’s score was 3.3 and ranked 113 among 117 countries that participated in the TTDI ranking. Similarly, in the socio-economic sustainability associated with travel and tourism, India’s score was as low as 2.8 and its ranking was 113. The National Summit on Sustainable and Responsible Tourism Destinations has the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the Responsible Tourism Society of India (RTSOI) as partners. Ministry of Tourism signed an MoU with these two organizations last year to promote sustainable and responsible tourism in the country.