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7. TOURISM SECTOR
7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 Introduction Pressures Status Impact Response Suggestions

7.1

Introduction

Tourism comprises of the activities of persons traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for leisure, recreation, holidays, business and other purposes. Tourism is the largest and rapidly growing industry in the world and it is a fairly established and growing industry in India, especially Rajasthan.

Though Rajasthan does not have snow-clad mountains, or vast stretches of sea beaches, it is unique in many ways i.e. very rich in historical, cultural, architectural and natural heritage. In the western half of the state there is a vast tract of hot sandy desert (Thar), which is the most dynamic and living desert among the hot deserts of the world. Eastern half of the State is replete with historical monuments amidst very rich biodiversity of semi-arid, tropical region. Above all, people of Rajasthan are friendly and hospitable.

Rajasthan has tremendous potential of attracting foreign as well as domestic tourists; accordingly plans are being made at Government level to give a quantum boost to this industry.
Table 7.1:Top 15 States in Terms of Foreign & Domestic Tourist Markets (On the Basis of Arrivals in 2000) STATE / U.T. FOREIGN TOURISTS NUMBER Delhi Maharashtra Uttar Pradesh 1274177 1075169 855036 RANK 1 2 3 DOMESTIC TOURISTS NUMBER 1728899 8297158 50296070 RANK 15 7 1

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Tamil Nadu Rajasthan Goa Kerala Karnataka West Bengal Madhya Pradesh Himachal Pradesh Bihar Andhra Pradesh Gujarat Jammu & Kashmir Pondichery 786165 623100 291709 209933 208000 197061 123127 111191 79445 78713 31748 19400 23878 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 17 15 22981882 7374391 976804 5013221 18000000 4737112 4684995 4571129 9826213 48038204 11408281 5393463 482189 3 8 16 10 4 11 12 13 6 2 5 9 20

Tourism is also regarded as an important industry for sustainable human development, including poverty alleviation, employment generation, environmental regeneration and development of remote areas, advancement of women, and to promote social integration and international understanding, besides an important source of earning precious foreign exchange. Tourism industry is also one of the least polluting industries. In view of all the advantages tourism has to be given a very high priority, with continuous and regular monitoring of its impact on overall environment by taking appropriate remedial measures.

One of the biggest constraints Rajasthan has is the acute shortage of water resources. Among other constraints are overcrowding of already established tourist centers due to rapid population growth and lack of connectivity and other facilities for tourists. Therefore, while planning a quantum boost in development of tourism industry, it must also be kept in mind that there always is a stretching limit or carrying capacity for every thing, depending on various crucial factors. It is extremely important that growth of tourism sector must be compatible with overall environmental framework so as to be sustainable for long (in all respects like - ecological, cultural, ethical, hygienic, basic necessities and expectations, economic etc.).

7.2
7.2.1

Pressures
Trend of Tourist Arrivals in Rajasthan :- Fig 7.1 shows that there has been a

steady increase in tourist inflow of both foreign and domestic tourists to Rajasthan for last 15 years; the only exceptions have been when there was fear of cholera epidemic in Surat (1994), or there was adverse impact of terrorism in Punjab, Kashmir, US (September 11, 2001), or elsewhere in the world.

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Fig 7.1: Tourist Arrival in Rajasthan

Number of Tourist days in Lakhs

180 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Year FOREIGN DOMESTIC

Note The number of tourist arrivals indicate tourist days, and not actual number of persons, as these are based on information, collected by tourism department, from hotels on the basis of occupancy of rooms by persons on each day. These numbers also do not include those tourists who did not stay in any hotel.

The number of foreign tourists who visited Rajasthan (Table 7.2) in 1971 was only 0.425 lacks, which rose 4.94 lac in 1991, 6.08 lac in 2001 and 9.72 lac in 2004. During the last two years, 2003 & 04, the Foreign Tourist Arrival has been increasing almost by 50%; where as the Domestic Tourist Arrival is increasing by about 30%. Arrival of foreign tourists is of special importance, for foreign exchange earning.
Table 7.2: Foreign Tourist Arrival in India & Rajasthan Year 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 No. of Foreign Tourist Visiting India 16,77,508 18,67,651 17,64,830 18,86,433 21,23,683 22,87,860 23,76,250 23,58,629 24,81,928 26,49,378 No. of Foreign Tourist Visiting Rajasthan 4,94,150 5,47,802 5,40,738 4,36,801 5,34,749 5,60,946 6,05,060 5,91,369 5,62,685 6,23,100 Percentage 29.45 29.33 30.64 23.15 25.18 24.51 25.46 25.07 22.67 23.52

Thus Rajasthan attracts about 25% of foreign tourists coming to India, and ranks 5th in the country in this respect. At present, Indian tourism claims less than 0.4 % of total world tourism, which can be enhanced considerably by proper and sustainable developmental planning. The growth rate in India presently is about 15%, highest in the world, and now GOI is planning to get 15 million foreign tourists by 2010 as against about 4 million at present. Thus in next 5 years the inflow of foreign tourists in Rajasthan is likely to increase by more than 4 times at the present rate. With the increase in tourist inflow, availability of hotel accommodation is also rapidly increasing, which makes Rajasthan a favoured destination.

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7.2.2

Availability of Hotels & Accommodations: - Availability of Hotels &

Accommodations in Rajasthan (as on 31.3.04) is given in Table 7.3.

Table 7.3: Availability of Hotels & Accommodations in Rajasthan Place Hotels and Dharmshalas Numbers 287 186 79 107 113 125 62 94 27 30 32 33 14 26 30 22 23 17 13 52 1372 Paying Guest Houses Rooms 8221 3814 2589 2445 2144 1863 1434 1257 710 634 606 567 536 528 456 377 312 275 162 837 29667 Numbers 130 61 46 25 4 5 20 2 2 17 13 325 Rooms 476 305 183 111 18 15 67 5 6 72 48 1306 Total Numbers 417 247 125 132 117 130 82 94 27 30 34 33 14 28 47 22 23 17 26 52 1697 Rooms 8697 4119 2772 2556 2162 1878 1501 1257 710 634 611 567 536 534 528 377 312 275 211 837 30973

Jaipur Udaipur Jodhpur Mt. ABU Ajmer Jaisalmer Bikaner Pushkar Kota Jhunjhunu Alwar S.Madhopur Jhalawar Chittorgarh Bharatpur Banswara Nagaur Sikar Bundi Others Total

7.2.3

Pressure on Transportation (Road, Rail) Infrastructure:- Though increase in

tourist arrivals in the State does cause extra pressure on road, rail and air transportation infrastructure; but it is a fact that much more pressure is being caused by very rapid increase in population growth and the number of vehicles being acquired by local people. Construction of new roads and rails, or widening of existing ones puts pressure on land and other natural resources.
Table 7.4: Mode of Travel Used by Tourists for Reaching Rajasthan - Survey in 2000 (In %) Tourists Foreign Tourists Domestic Tourists Total Tourists Air 82 5 27.86 Train 11 52 39.71 Road 7 43 32.43

7.2.4

Pressure

on

Land

and

Accommodation:- The most crucial component

for tourism is providing suitable accommodation for various categories of tourists. Rajasthan has an estimated tourist accommodation of 24000 rooms in about 900 Hotels during 2000 and 30973 rooms in 1697 hotels during 2004, which needs to be
Fig 7.2: The Land Requirement Would Impact the Sensitive Ecosystems.

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CH APTER 7 : TOUR ISM SECTOR increased three times by 2010 to meet the expected demand. This increase will have to be mainly in private sector, with emphasis on eco-friendly constructions of indigenous architecture, use of solar energy and water harvesting. This will put considerable pressure on land requirement, which ultimately have impact on the ecosystem of the respective areas.

7.2.5

Pressure on Civic Facilities:- Increasing tourism puts additional pressure on two

main civic facilities i.e water and electricity. Consumption of both water and electricity is considerably higher for tourism sector. High profile tourists and starred hotels consume about 5 times more water than being used by a common man. Measures for recharging groundwater and water conservation strategies need to be implemented. There is also acute shortage of electric supply resulting in frequent power cuts which act as terrible irritant to tourists whose main purpose of visit is to have hassle-free enjoyable trip. Due to overcrowding of most towns and cities the general state of cleanliness and public sanitary facilities are already far from satisfactory. The additional inflow of tourists puts extra pressure on the facilities but their expectations of high standard of cleanliness, and comforts, needs to be kept in mind while planning for infrastructure development especially in tourist destinations.

7.2.6

Pressure on Wildlife and Forest:- There

has been a rising trend in tourist arrivals in National Parks and Sanctuaries. Some experts feel that at Ranthambhore the number of vehicles and tourists plying through the Sanctuary may soon go beyond assumed carrying capacity. It causes disturbance to wildlife in their regular breeding and feeding activity, which is harmful from conservation and sustainability point of view.
Fig 7.3: Tourism is Threatening the Wildlife

i.

Direct: All the tourists visiting Protected Areas and natural forests cause following negative impacts on the eco-system disturbance to wild animals due to noise of vehicles, noise caused by tourists. Feeding and breeding of wild animals is adversely affected which is very harmful for their sustainability. There is also a risk of transmission of disease viruses and pathogens.

ii.

Indirect: Excessive tourism in the centers situated close to forest areas has indirect adverse impacts on adjoining forest areas due to illegal cutting of trees to meet fuel-wood demand, illegal mining to meet construction requirement and even encroachment and diversion of forest lands.

Table 7.5 shows the trend of tourist arrivals in important Protected areas of Rajasthan.

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Table 7.5: Number of Tourists Arrival in Major Protected Areas of Rajasthan Protected Area Keoladeo N. P. Bharatpur Ranthambhor e N.P. Sariska T.R. Mount Abu S. Kumbhalgarh S. Sajjangarh S DNP, Jaisalmer 199798 104807 37022 63962 12171 NA NA 118 199899 118505 43714 96024 13014 NA NA 77 199900 114706 55999 54987 13065 816 12909 1061 200001 12460 73528 43685 2731 1345 27329 NA 200102 115599 73299 37057 17142 1135 25565 NA 200203 83604 70807 41105 16618 1197 28928 NA 200304 110929 93886 43125 19566 1737 45760 983 Approx. % of Foreign Tourists. 35 40 20 0.5 40 5 2

Above figures do not include very large number of religious domestic tourists who go to Ganesh Temple in Ranthambhore NP, Hanuman temple in Sariska TR, Ranakpur and Rishabhdev Temples in Kumbhalgarh Sanctuary. It also does not include over 10 lac tourists visiting Mt. Abu every year.

This pressure can be eased if more number and variety of tourist attractions are developed around each protected area. Dispersal of tourists on a large number of nature trails and developing alternatives in neighborhood will ease the pressure and disturbance. A large proportion of field staff gets committed to take care of tourism in PAs, which adversely affects the protection and sustainability of biodiversity.

7.3
7.3.1

State
Status of Important Tourist Places, Statistics:- Attractive and potential tourist

sites are spread over the entire State, however, due to various reasons main pressure is on Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Ajmer, Mt. Abu & Jaisalmer as seen in Table 7.6.
Table 7.6: Foreign Tourists Arrival at Major Tourist Centers of Rajasthan in Lacs Year 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Jaipur 1.55 1.71 1.46 1.11 1.50 1.48 1.84 1.50 1.29 1.55 1.73 0.81 1.05 2.06 Udaipur 0.73 0.80 0.85 0.73 0.86 0.83 0.84 0.78 0.79 0.77 0.57 1.01 1.57 1.98 Jodhpur 0.64 0.70 0.62 0.57 0.50 0.48 0.49 0.49 0.48 0.68 0.70 0.38 0.65 1.00 Ajmer 0.11 0.15 0.10 0.46 0.48 0.56 0.60 0.49 0.45 0.51 0.54 0.51 0.05 0.11 Jaisalmer 0.43 0.50 0.45 0.43 0.48 0.49 0.57 0.53 0.50 0.51 0.47 0.26 0.51 0.81 Mt. Abu 0.22 0.23 0.24 0.10 0.11 0.13 0.16 0.14 0.13 0.14 0.14 0.08 0.09 0.11 Total 3.68 4.09 3.72 3.40 3.93 3.97 4.50 3.93 3.64 4.16 4.15 3.05 3.92 6.07

Out of the total number of foreign tourists coming to Rajasthan, Jaipur alone gets 24.8 % and Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Pushkar, Ajmer, Jaisalmer, Jhunjhunu, Bikaner, Ranakpur and Mount Abu combined get 87 % of the total foreign tourists visiting Rajasthan. The remaining

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CH APTER 7 : TOUR ISM SECTOR areas of Rajasthan get only 13 % foreign tourists. Therefore, there is need to develop foreign tourism market in these remaining areas and other potential sites.
Table 7.7: Domestic Tourists Arrival at Major Tourist Centers of Rajasthan Lacs Year 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Jaipur 4.73 7.21 6.23 6.68 6.63 6.60 7.00 6.16 6.13 7.45 6.56 5.89 6.40 9.68 Udaipur 5.86 6.75 6.88 6.45 6.46 6.21 6.39 5.75 5.79 7.35 6.63 4.71 4.40 4.61 Jodhpur 4.65 5.32 5.28 4.62 4.40 4.18 4.28 3.65 3.53 3.71 3.83 3.36 4.03 4.69 Ajmer 4.65 5.37 4.79 4.24 5.01 5.27 4.93 7.84 7.66 10.88 12.69 13.34 9.70 11.25 Jaisalmer 2.02 2.26 2.54 0.76 0.85 0.80 0.69 0.53 0.35 0.59 1.03 0.97 1.33 1.82 Mt. Abu 6.69 9.23 9.66 9.06 11.40 11.24 13.92 10.56 13.38 12.55 12.83 10.73 13.03 14.68 Total 28.60 36.74 35.38 31.81 34.75 34.30 37.21 34.49 36.83 42.53 43.57 39.00 36.89 46.73

Out of the total number of domestic tourists visiting Rajasthan, Mount Abu alone gets 17 %, and Mount Abu, Ajmer, Pushkar, Jaipur, Udaipur, Nathdwara, Jodhpur, Bikaner, Chittaurgarh and Bharatpur combined get 80% of the domestic tourists visiting Rajasthan. Remaining 20 % domestic tourists visit rest of the places in Rajasthan. Hence there is a need to enhance domestic tourism market in the remaining areas.
Fig 7.4: Sonar Fort, Jaisalmer

Palaces City Palace, Jaipur, Amer Palace, Lalgarh Palace Bikaner, City Palace Udaipur, Umaid Bhavan Palace Jodhpur, Kota Fort and Palace.

Fig 7.5: Palaces of Interest in Rajasthan

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7.3.2

Classification of Tourist Places:- Classification of foreign tourists visiting India

according to purpose of visit (in year 2000) on the basis of a survey (which will hold good for Rajasthan also ) is given in Table 7.8.
Table 7.8: Classification of Foreign Tourists Region N. America C. & S. America W. Europe E. Europe Africa West Asia South Asia S. E. Asia E. Asia Australasia Total Holiday & Sight Seeing 374474 36946 746069 52043 127686 98226 169956 137353 110654 101280 1972080 Business 10777 1746 32653 4424 8670 7697 868 6010 9072 6346 105493 Conference 515 76 624 69 101 85 131 335 120 206 2153 Study 1686 224 787 257 455 757 35 482 275 381 4306 Others 20339 1608 30006 255 6859 22230 4360 2986 7704 6078 68894 Total 407741 40600 810139 57048 143771 128995 175350 147166 127825 114291 2152926

The survey has revealed that about 91.6 % foreign tourists visit India for Holidaying and Sight- Seeing, about 4.9% for Business and the rest for other purposes like conferences, study etc. It must be kept in mind that about 30 % of tourists of the first category (holidaying and sight-seeing) can easily be diverted to so far less visited sights provided proper attractions, transportation, accommodations and other facilities are developed, e.g., in Desert Rural Areas, Shekhawati and Haroti Area.

The findings of the survey related to tourism preferences and categories of tourists visiting Rajasthan is given in Fig 7.6 and Table 7.9 respectively.

Fig 7.6: Type of Places Tourists Like to See in Rajasthan (Survey: 2000)

120
100 100 100

100 Percentage 80 60 40
20.5 26 16 5.5 11 21 56 41.57 17 14 5 4 4 18 17.43 8.14

20 0

6 8.86

Foreign Cultural Attractions Pilgrim Centres Total

Domestic Type of Tourist Historical Monuments /Forts Adventure Tourism

Total Wildlife and Nature Others

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Table 7.9: Categories of Tourists Visiting Rajasthan Category Domestic Religious Main Interest Subsidiary Interest Seeing historical monuments, shopping Main Visited Places Pressures On Environment Air Pollution, Litter, Noise and disturbance in PAs. Fuel wood from forests

Visiting etc.

temples

LTC availers

Businessmen

Historical Monuments, Sightseeing, Sight-seeing, Recreation,

Religious places, shopping Visiting PAs, shopping, religious places

Pushkar, Ajmer Dargah, Nathdwara, Ramdeora, Ganesh temple, Ranthambhore, Ranakpur, DilwaraAbu etc. Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Chittorgarh, Ajmer Jaipur, Udaipur, Mt. Abu, Jodhpur, Sariska, RNP, KNP, Jaisalmer Jaipur, Udaipur, Bharatpur, Jodhpur, Jaisalmer, Pushkar, RNP Bharatpur, RNP, Sariska, Kumbhalgarh, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Udaipur

Air Pollution, Litter, Water waste Air Pollution, Litter, Water waste

Foreign Holiday and Sight-seeing

Others

Historical Monuments, Cultural & Heritage sites Natural Heritage Sites, Recreation

Natural Heritage sites, shopping, Recreation Historical Monuments, Cultural Heritage, Shopping

Air Pollution, Water waste

Air Pollution, Water waste

There was a provision of Rs.50.56 crore in the 8th Plan and Rs. Rs.147.5 crore for the 10th Five Year Plan. In view of its importance as foreign exchange earner and providing employment opportunities, the budget for 2005-06 is kept as Rs.24.5 cr. The important activities proposed are :-

1. Tourism Promotional activities (Tourist Information and Publicity). Rajasthan Calling and Road Shows in various states; organizing Fairs, festivals and Cultural events, providing a limited subsidy to Hotel industry; Beautification of important monuments, eg, Albert Hall, Amer, Nahargarh, Sajjangarh and Jaisalmer Forts, Bundi, chittorgarh, Pushkar etc.

2. Development of Tourist Sites (Rs. 696.5 lac).- Jalmahal, ropeway at at Udaipur, Golf Resort, Tijara Fort Alwar, Spiritual tourism development - Dargah-Ajmer, Nathdwara, Shree Mahavirji, Ranakpur, Ramdeora.

7.4
7.4.1

Impact
Impact on Water Environment:- Rapid increase in number of tourists is bound to

have some adverse impact on our environment, especially in respect of already scarce water resource and air pollution. Yet, it is also true that adverse impact on both of these due to

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CH APTER 7 : TOUR ISM SECTOR additional tourist inflow would be much less than due to other factors e.g. increasing population and number of vehicles, industrialization, etc. The groundwater table is falling at an alarming rate in Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Ajmer etc. Rajasthan is extremely short of water and additional demand from tourism, which is water-intensive, will be additional pressure on this scarce and precious resource. It will hit hard especially at existing large urban tourist centers like Jaipur, Udaipur, Ajmer, Jodhpur, Bikaner which are already facing severe watershortage and whatever ground water is available is not going to last long even at present level of usage.

7.4.2

Impact on Civic Activities:-

a. Pressure on Land Providing various tourist facilities invariably cause pressure on land, e.g. use of extra land for accommodation and other infra-structure, including road and rail network, aerodromes. Building materials are often extracted from ecosystem, mostly from forests. Conversion of such extra land invariably hits three very important sectors agriculture, dairy and forests.

b. Sewage Generation and Disposal. Sewage planning of main tourist centers of Rajasthan is already grossly inadequate. The situation has worsened due to rapid growth of population and expansion of these cities. Increasing tourism will certainly enhance the pressure on the existing systems.

c. Municipal Solid Waste Garbage Disposal. Increase in tourist inflow will add considerable amount of solid waste, especially polybags garbage, etcrequiring more systematic disposal and awareness about necessity of category-wise segregation of garbage.

d. Road Transport. As seen above, about 33% tourists arrive in Rajasthan by road, traveling within Rajasthan is even more by road, and within the cities it is totally by road. The situation of traffic is already pathetic which is going to be even worse in future. NHDP (National Highway Development Programme) for widening, improvement and construction of 14000 km of roads in the country will boost tourism in Rajasthan also. More train, metros and adequate availability of buses will be helpful in reducing pollution as well as irritation of overcrowding and traffic jams.

e. Impact on Public Facilities. Boost in tourism will also have extra pressure on other public facilities like medical, sanitation, communication etc.

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CH APTER 7 : TOUR ISM SECTOR f. Socio Economic Impact. The impacts arise when tourism brings about changes in value systems, behaviour and threatens indigenous identity. Changes often occur in community structure, family relationship, collective traditional life style, ceremonies and morality. Main negative impacts on social and cultural environment are Loss of authenticity, adoption of tourists behaviour pattern or Irritation due to tourist behaviour, Culture clashes, cultural erosion and disruption of traditional lifestyle. It also has some negative economic impacts as only a few get bulk of the financial benefits, and majority of the community are only marginally benefited. Any subsidy or favours extended to some private entrepreneurs for high cost infrastructures of tourism development is at the cost of more important activities of mass benefit. Influx of people from rural to urban areas causes social degradation, uncertainties of seasonal variations in income. There are also some possibilities of smuggling and antinational activities.

g. Impact on Environment, Wildlife & Forest. To cope up with the growth in tourism industry large scale constructions of roads, resorts, hotels, shops etc. is being taken up which causes adverse impacts like degradation of forests, soil erosion, fragmentation of wildlife habitats, encroachments, accidents etc. Also excessive vehicular traffic, more than carrying capacity of the Protected Area, and noisy conduct of tourists cause terrible disturbance to wildlife, especially in their breeding and feeding activity. It also results in pollution, fire hazards, trampling of new regeneration etc. within the protected area. The field staff gets deviated to the responsibilities of tourism management instead of protection duties. At times pathogens and exotic species also get introduced.

7.5
7.5.1

Response
Government Policy Regarding Tourism:-

Tourism Policy of Rajasthan 2001: Looking at the importance of tourism development in accelerating the economic growth in the state, government of Rajasthan formulated and approved Tourism Policy of Rajasthan 2001. It is being revised to boost tourism development by extending more facilities to private entrepreneurs. Its objectives include:

Optimum utilization of rich tourist resources of the State in order to attract the maximum number of domestic and foreign tourists. (It has to be on a long term sustainable basis). Development of the tourism industry to increase employment opportunities, especially in rural areas for unemployed rural youth; To develop a ready market for the rich and varied handicrafts and cottage industries of Rajasthan; and ensure welfare of artisans / artistes;

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CH APTER 7 : TOUR ISM SECTOR Preservation of rich natural, historical, architectural and cultural heritage of Rajasthan; special emphasis on conservation of historical monuments in Rajasthan; To facilitate the growth of tourism in the State and to further involve the private sector in the development of tourism in Rajasthan; To promote inter cultural understanding through religious / pilgrim tourism and fairs and festivals; To promote socio-economic development of Rajasthan through tourism with special thrust on backward areas. To make tourism a Peoples Industry in the state; To minimize negative impacts of tourism (on environment as well as social and cultural environment) and promote sustainable tourism. To open new vistas in tourism like Adventure tourism, Eco-tourism, Spiritual Tourism, Camel/Horse safaris, River and Canal cruise, Houseboats in Rajasthan (Palace on Waves), Educational Tourism, Caravan Tourism, Health tourism, Rural Tourism, Film Tourism etc.

General tourists who come with the main objective of holidaying and sightseeing are quite likely to be attracted by new avenues being planned in smaller and rural places by integrating a variety of subjects like rural cultural heritage, lesser known or popular monuments, local fauna and flora, local handicrafts, folk music, trekking, horse and camel safaris combined with bird-watching en route, especially on ponds, lakes etc. This will reduce the pressure on roads, water, air, land and various civic facilities.

7.5.2

Eco-tourism: Policy & Guidelines, 2002:- Eco-tourism is ecologically

sustainable nature-tourism, involving the indigenous stakeholders, for improving their living standards, while forging partnership with the existing tourism industry. The World Tourism Organization (WTO) defines eco-tourism as tourism that involves traveling to relatively undisturbed natural areas (National Parks, Wildlife Sanctuaries, Forests) with the specified object of studying, admiring and enjoying the scenery and its wild plants and animals, as well as any existing cultural aspects (both of the past or the present) found in and around these areas. It facilitates public access to Protected Areas to increase environmental awareness and improve public support for conservation programmes. It requires lesser infrastructure development and a lower impact on the environment. In view of fast increasing Eco-tourism, and necessity of avoiding its negative impact on the environment MOEF, GOI, framed Ecotourism Policy and Guidelines, 2002. Following cardinal principles have been outlined for the development of Eco-tourism: 1. It should involve the local community and lead to the overall economic development of the area 2. It should identify the likely conflicts between resource use for tourism and the livelihood of local inhabitants and attempt to minimize such conflicts

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CH APTER 7 : TOUR ISM SECTOR 3. The type and scale of tourism development should be compatible with the environment and socio-cultural characteristics of the local community and it should be planned as a part of the overall area development strategy, guided by an integrated land-use plan while avoiding inter-sectoral conflicts and ensuring sectoral integration, associated with commensurate expansion of public services. 4. The first benefit of eco-tourism must go to the local people (host-community), and in the long run the capacity building in this regard should be built-in for forging partnership with the local people. 5. The development should be sensitive to the conservation of fauna and flora, the corridor value of the area, apart from respecting the religious and historic sites in the area.

The eco-tourism package should invariably include: a. Simple, adequate boarding & lodging facilities, in tune with the environment & the general setting of the landscape, using local material & design as far as possible and avoiding over construction. The tourist facilities should use eco-friendly techniques viz., solar energy, recycling of garbage, harvesting of rain water, natural cross-ventilation instead of AC, self-sufficiency in food through kitchen garden & farming. b. c. Road and track network within the identified tourism zone. Transportation options, preference to trekking, cycling, horses etc. over motorised vehicles. d. e. Self guided Nature trails, Wayside exhibits and Signages, Observation towers. Interpretation Centers, Brochures, leaflets, audio-visuals, films, guide service, Public conveniences, f. g. h. Garbage disposal facility, Living quarters for staff / personnel. Site-specific microplanning for community based eco-tourism should be resorted to. Environmental, physical & social carrying capacities to limit the various developmental activities in the fringe area to be identified for eco-tourism. i. Devise mechanism to ensure continuous monitoring of adverse impacts of tourism for quick remedial measures j. k. Control of noise pollution, chemical pollution and air emissions Respecting the historic & religious sites in the area Respecting local inhabitants, culture & involving them in various activities & vocations as far as possible l. Should be ecologically, socially, culturally and economically sustainable.

m. Should have participation of the local stake-holders. n. Should be capable of dove-tailing in the existing tourism of the State. o. Interpretation is an indispensable tool for achieving the goals of eco-tourism. In the past, tour guides were usually untrained, but guide training is now common in most developed countries. Tour guide training is an adult education activity, but much training is competency-based with an emphasis on knowledge transmission and skill acquisition. One of the essential elements of interpretation is provision of a very good Interpretation

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CH APTER 7 : TOUR ISM SECTOR Center, where the tourists can have an overview of the site being visited. It is essential that big Eco-tourism sites have Interpretation Centers and well trained interpreters.

From both the policies it is obvious that proper thought has been given to the likely Environmental Impacts of tourism development and necessary precautionary measures have, by and large, been provided in both the policies. Now it has to be ensured that all these precautions are taken while various developmental activities are actually taken up for boosting tourism in the State. Following actions have already been taken by various concerned departments of the government-

Hotels are installing Air / Water polluting Control Systems. Special priority is being given to units in tourism sector for allotment of gas (LPG) connection, power connection, water connection and sewerage connection. Tourism sector units are being encouraged to install sources of non-conventional energy like Solar Heaters and Wind Mills. As a special drive hotels and other large buildings and campuses are undertaking construction of water-harvesting structures to conserve rain water. To reduce negative impact of increasing tourism in Mt. Abu, Government of Rajasthan is planning to notifiy certain areas of Mt. Abu as eco-sensitive zone. Similarly a distance of 500m around Ranthmbhore forests has also been declared as ecosensitive and constructions of hotels etc. have been banned. Similar action is anticipated for some of other PAs of the state. Green city scheme for hotels has been started for their garbage disposal. No polluting motorized vehicles are allowed in Keoladeo National Park for tourism purpose, only cycle rikshaws and cycles or trekking is permitted, two electra-vans are being used for tourists. To minimize pollution, only petrol-gypsies and canters of large seating capacity are allowed in Ranthambhore National Park. Horse safaris are being encouraged in Kumbhalgarh and Sajjangarh sanctuaries. Nature trails are being created in various sanctuaries and forest areas where tourists will be able to walk or go on horseback to enjoy and experience nature. These will act as new attractions and will reduce pressure on crowded tourism centers. Rajasthan has been a pioneer state in launching Heritage hotels in the country by converting old palaces and havelies of erstwhile rulers in to tourist accommodations, which has been extremely popular with tourists, especially foreign tourists. This also reduces pressure on land, construction material and environment in addition to proper maintenance of precious historical heritage. At present there are over 100 Heritage Hotels operating in Rajasthan providing about 3000 rooms for tourists. The Scheme of paying guest has been very popular with Domestic and Foreign Tourists. This scheme is in operation in 11 cities of Rajasthan. The scope of this scheme would be further enlarged. It reduces pressure on land, construction material

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CH APTER 7 : TOUR ISM SECTOR and environment, besides providing additional employment to a large number of people. Care would be taken to ensure that only such houses and families are registered with the Department of Tourism who will serve the purpose and will provide adequate and suitable facilities to the tourists. Camp Tourism/ Eco-Friendly Nature Tourism, a new scheme for allotment of camping sites, which is already very popular in places like Pushkar, Desert Festival (Jaisalmer), Nagaur Cattle Fair and Jhalawar Festival, would be further extended to new tourist places to cater to the needs of budget tourists, in peak season. reduce pressure on land etc at crowded tourist centers. Wayside Facilities at appropriate places are being created in order to provide commuting tourists an opportunity to relax and refresh themselves. Such facilities will now be mainly in private sector. It will reduce the pressure on precious water on already crowded and water deficit places. Development of Nazool Properties of Heritage Value is being undertaken. There are a large numbers of historical buildings, Fortresses etc. spread all over which are not protected by Department of Archaeology and Museums or Archaeological Survey of India and which are owned by the State government. These properties would be transferred to Department of Tourism for developing them into heritage hotels/ tourist museums/ tourist complexes/ tourist resorts in collaboration with private It will

entrepreneurs. It will reduce pressure on crowded centers, on land, construction material and environment and water. Travel facilities are also extremely important for tourism sector. Availability of fast, punctual, adequate and comfortable travel facilities will contribute considerably in boosting the tourism development in the state. Up-gradation of Airports, broad gauging of rails, broadening and up-gradation of roads is being undertaken on large scale which is more eco-friendly, similarly construction of ring roads, metros, availability of adequate tourist buses, instead of car taxis and auto rikshaws, within cities will reduce pollution. Broad gauge Palace On Wheels has already been launched in the year 1996-97 and it has proved to be extremely popular with International tourists and NRIS. Efforts would be made to launch an economy version of luxurious Palace On Wheels for budget tourists. The State will encourage air taxi service and Helicopter service by air taxi operators within the State so the tourists visiting the state can see as many places as possible within the available time. There are large number of airstrips and helipads available all over the state. Their up-gradation is already on the anvil. Due to phenomenal growth of tourism, it has become essential to guard against exploitation and cheating of the tourists. A separate Tourist Police contingent is being constituted. Special studies would be conducted by Department of Tourism to assess the carrying capacity of popular tourist places. Efforts would be made to regulate the tourist traffic

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CH APTER 7 : TOUR ISM SECTOR in these places and also to ensure that no cultural or ecological pollution takes place because of unregulated growth of tourism industry. Misuse and vulgarization of rich folk music of the state by commercial cinema would not be allowed; part of the earnings of such commercial use of folk music of Rajasthan would be earmarked for the welfare of folk artistes of the state.

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