Tourism Secretary Vinod Zutshi has launched the implementation of the Sustainable Tourism Criteria for India (STCI) in association with Ecotourism Society of India (ESOI). He recalled the MoU signed in March 2016 between ESOI and the central government to launch the STCI programme across India. Zutshi indicated the importance given to sustainable tourism in the National Tourism Policy that is to be released soon.
Steve Borgia, president, ESOI hailed the commitment shown by Ministry of Tourism. CB Ramkumar, board member, Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria (GSTC) presented the global picture and also suggested the direction which India could adopt in this regard.
STCI had been developed for the accommodation, tour operators and beaches, backwaters and lakes sectors of the tourism industry after discussions with the stakeholders. STCI follows the guidelines set by GSTC that has been evolved under the guidance of United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO). STCI were developed with the need for developing criteria for sustainable tourism specific to India, given the specific environment that India’s tourism industry operates in and drawing inspiration from India’s attainments in sustainability. After deliberations, STCI were defined on August 26, 2014 by the then Minister of Tourism in Hyderabad in association with travel trade associations.
