ADVENTURE & WILDLIFE
Adventure tourism and Sustainability
Some observations from the Indian perspective
By Dr. Pranab J Patar
We live in a resource crunch time, where demand is way-too high than the supply could actually meet. The biggest challenge is not the lack of solutions it is rather non-practice of a culture that promotes love and appreciation of our heritage / resources and a mechanism that is essential to get things in order or restore.
Tourism is like a magic wand, it is an instrument that is capable of creating different music at the same time or like a single medicine for dozen ailments. One size fits all kind of a tool; that too, a tried and tested one. The world is today is going through a difficult time – unstable economy, lack of jobs, too many people, political volatility, environmental degradation, peace deficiency, what not, it has it all except a proper answer.
There are numerous examples of tourism activities, when managed properly; it has effectively changed the socio-economic and environmental dynamics of a place for good. In South Asia alone, there are many economies that are flourishing because of tourism. But the overall picture is far from rosy because of improper management, non-conducive policies and absence of goodwill at the government level and most importantly lack of awareness and pro-active practice on ground.
Tourism as an industry has a significant global footprint; in 2015 it has contributed about US $ 1.2 trillion to the global economy, which is close to 10 % of total global GDP while generating 1 in 11 jobs. Nature tourism accounts for about 25 % of this global figure. Given such importance of nature based tours and tourism activities; it is likely to draw more and more attention and investment from all the quarters while inviting greater responsibility towards people and the planet. Uncontrolled tourism has always been detrimental to the environment 110 as well as the society with high potential to cause minor to irreversible alteration of landscape, ecosystems, and socio-cultural dynamics. Perhaps the bigger threat such trend is running is its ability to damage attraction factors in all probabilities causing reduction in the tourist flow.
Tourism activities that are in direct interaction and dependency on the natural and human dimension therefore should be brought under a responsible conduct framework as they are likely to get impacted directly should there be an imbalance. Among various forms and types of tourism, one form constantly and directly interacts with natural elements is the adventure. Although there are many schools of thought defining what should be considered as adventure tourism, all of them agreed that such travel should include elements of physical activity( may be a dose of risk too for the adrenalin rush), exploration of nature and interaction with local culture in unusual, exotic, remote, or wilderness destinations. Hence, it has become even more important to realize the two-way relationship between tourism and the environment( natural, built and human) where it is undertaken and the greater responsibility of acting sensibly.
Statistics indicate global adventure tourism accounts for more than USD 75 billion in 2010, which went up three fold just in three years i. e. by 2013 it become USD 220 billion( Global Report on Adventure Tourism 2014) making it one of the fastest growing forms of tourism. The numbers very much tell the demand and growth prospect in the adventure tourism market while indicating the need for a sustainability and practice. The term sustainability is an interesting term as it could be applied in two ways, first, sustainable practice of tourism and second is the sustainability of tourism.
Vol 1 | Issue 5-6 | Nov 16- Jan 17