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The first eco-tourism conclave organised jointly by EcoTourism Society of India (ESOI) and the Government of Manipur held on April 7-8, 2014 in Manipur witnessed serious deliberations on the need for proper assessment of a destination’s carrying capacity and the need to encourage community development projects. The two-day conclave covered various tourism topics including adventure, heritage, MICE, golf, polo, medical, water-based tourism, sports, rural and cultural tourism. Showcasing some of the best eco-tourism practices in India and the world for the benefit of all stakeholders, the conclave also covered topics like destination development and marketing as well as saw industry veterans stress on the need to generate employment for the local communities and improve infrastructure. The event was attended by conservationists, forest department officials, tourism authorities, the travel trade and hoteliers.
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The ‘Manipur EcoTourism Conclave’ was inaugurated by VK Duggal, governor of Manipur along with PC Lawmkunga, chief secretary, Government of Manipur; Steve Borgia, president, ESOI; Rakesh Mathur, secretary, ESOI; Shilabhadra Banerjee, IAS (retd), former secretary, tourism, Government of India; MP Bezbauruah, member – North Eastern Council; and Dr Rajesh Kumar, principal secretary (tourism), Government of Manipur. Addressing the gathering, Duggal informed that the state tourism department is working in a systematic and sustained way for harnessing tourism potential in Manipur. The foundation stone for the integrated cable car ropeway and lakeside development at Loktak lake was also laid recently, which will give a boost to the tourism industry. A comprehensive Tourism Policy is also being finalised by the state government. Lawmkunga gave an assurance that the government will make sure that their resources are well preserved and sustainable practices are adopted while developing infrastructure. Banerjee pointed out the growing interest in culture and heritage among travellers, and with India’s huge diversity, this segment needs to be tapped in order to attract domestic and international tourists. “Eco-tourism is a part of sustainable tourism and there is a possibility of doing much better. It is time now to think big and act as there are no second chances given to create a lasting impression in the first attempt itself,” opined Bezbaruah.
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Focused approach
Certain principles which need to be taken seriously while promoting eco-tourism and sustainable development include building environment and cultural awareness, providing direct financial benefit for conservation, practices should benefit the environment and local communities.”Every traveller wants a unique product during their travel experience. In order to grow in the tourism segment, it is imperative that the issue of access is sorted. The important ingredient needed here is sincere entrepreneurship to grow the business along with creating a brand identity and niche products which need to be highlighted,” mentioned Arjun Sharma, managing director, Le Passage to India Tours and Travels. Replying to this, Chitaranjan Bakshi, business head, PASH India said, “Worldwide there are about 60 million golfers and this segment is approximately a US$ 60 billion industry which is seeing a growth of 10 per cent. With the biggest market being the US, other markets include France, UK, Spain, Morocco, Thailand, Mauritius, Turkey, Czechoslovakia, etc. And as far as India is concerned, even with 220 golf courses run by the army, utilisation of golf courses is only 25 per cent. We have the market to position this sport as a niche segment but one needs to be careful on how the packages are developed to provide unique experiences to travellers.” Vikram Sodhi, chairman, Anandpur Sahib Heritage Foundation also spoke about the evolution of modern polo which is considered as an elite sport and the initiatives that the company is taking to promote the sport. “Defining experiences what you need to give to domestic and international travellers is what needs to be focused upon. The back-end needs to be strengthened if you are dealing with adventure tourism,” pointed out Mandip Singh Soin, immediate past president, ESOI and founder and managing director of Ibex Expeditions. Soin further highlighted the cultural fabric of the Himalayan regions and stressed on the need to discover new routes for adventure tourism. “Winter tourism is another product which can be promoted with support of the state government, tour operators and local communities,” he mentioned. With a lot of emphasis been laid on cultural diversity, Sentila Yanger, culture, heritage and textile specialist too felt that cultural tourism is a subset to the local culture, history, art and architecture. And hence the movement of people to cultural experiences must be connected to community development.
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Products and potential
Delving upon the appropriate model for tourism in the north east, Jose Dominic, managing director, CGH Earth strongly opined that luxury is the experience and not the built opulence. “The indigenous nature is what Manipur needs to promote,” he said. Elaborating on this, Ameising Luikham, IAS, secretary, North East Council informed that the council has identified 33 circuits and have been put forward to the state government. “We have a livelihood mission and will adopt participatory planning. When it comes to developing certain areas for tourists we will have to engage villagers and make it more people friendly. We see a huge demand for homestays development to facilitate tourists to experience the destination,” added Luikham. Elaborating on the government initiative, Dr Kumar highlighted that the state tourism department is implementing two mega projects centering on the tourist destinations Sendra, Loktak lake, Takmu and Khongjom-Kaina-Marjing. Further the state tourism department is also looking at rural tourism projects. Development of rural tourism will be taken up in Ukhrul district in a planned manner. With this the department is hoping to achieve a good base for homestays and community tourism. The department has also got another mega project prioritised to develop major tourist attractions in and around Imphal such as Ima market, Govindaji Temple, the Assembly, the War Cemetry for upliftment and restoration of these places. The state tourism department is also working on developing a 18 hole golf course at Nongmaiching, Imphal East District under large revenue generating scheme of MoT wherein MoT will finance 25 per cent of the project cost. Besides this, the state is also moving towards capacity building and human resource development. It recently laid the foundation stone for the State Institute of Hotel Management, Catering and Applied Nutrition at Nongmaiching. The institute is scheduled to start by 2015.
Raising a word of caution here, Seema Bhatt, vice president, ESOI opined that building awareness about adopting sustainable practices is what needs to be on top of the mind. According to her, there needs to be proper planning and community training for overall development. “You need to have certain standards to ascertain who will be doing homestays projects and who will be doing other projects of eco-tourism,” she said.
Talking from a hotelier’s perspective, Niranjan Khatri, general manager, environment, ITC Welcome Group added that the ITC group has undertaken numerous sustainable livelihood projects as part of their CSR activities. “We need to take the initiative to do something for accounting principles. Hence it is imperative to educate tour operators about the nature and cultural habits of a destination, which they can educate travellers to adhere to. One needs to be innovative while thinking of adopting sustainable practices. As you cannot solve today’s problems with yesterday’s tools,” he stated.
Stressing on the need to preserve our resources and assets, Mathur said that there needs to be an environment code of conduct. The unorganised sector is larger than the organised sector. There needs to be supplementation of private assets with central heritage tourism promotion policy. Anil Sharma, proprietor, A Sharma Associates also made a presentation on the need to give importance to building fire safety emergency exits in hotels during the architectural design stage itself.
Through the two-day conclave’s deliberations among members and panelists, ESOI decided to bring out a white paper on the points raised, which would be soon drafted and submitted to the state government for implementation of tourism projects. On a concluding note, Borgia said, “We feel this has been the right time for us to come to Manipur. We need to concentrate on developing the state into a developing destination and placedit on the world map.”
