Sustainable peace, environmental integrity and responsible tourism
Er. Ganesh Shah and Dr. Kishor Rajbhandari
With the down of Anthropocene epoch, it has become human beings' responsibility
to consider the global impact of any of their undertakings. Tourism has been
accepted as the worlds most important economic sectors and tourism industry has
become the major factor for economic growth and employment generation in
developing world. With the rise of economic status of the people of the two giant
neighboring countries, China and India, tourism development in Nepal is inevitable;
here, we have to decide whether we want development at the cost of environmental
and social integrity of not. Considering this critical issue, the first international
conference on peace, environment and tourism (PET Conference) was convened in
Pokhara in 2011. All the scholars, researchers, academicians, policy makers,
politicians and stakeholders emphasized in their papers that peaceenvironment
tourism are closely interlinked and called for an interdisciplinary or cross-sectoral
understanding and cross-cutting policy approach for sustainable peace,
environmental integrity and responsible tourism.
The experts have pointed out that with the existing government policies and tourism
industry run by private sector, the resource utilization and environment conservation
in Nepal is challenging. It has been realized that private enterprises working in the
tourism sector are not much aware on environmental footprints. Solely based on
these considerations, we can formulate new paradigm of development considering
the harmonization of three important aspects the peace, environment and tourism.
Tourism development sector should understand that integration of peace and
environment is indispensable. We should develop responsible tourism by adequately
addressing the environmental concern and sustainable peace. Efforts for sustainable
peace and development must go simultaneously to synergize the outputs. It should
be realized by authorities in government as well as in tourism sector that there is no
tourism without environment. Environment protection should be a motivation for co-
operation and thus for bringing peace.
But the challenges will be to translate the concepts into theories and principles, and
how to bring in theoretical contestations into policy making process, to translate a
peace time industry into a peace building industry, to translate the vision into an
action orientation. Tourism sector should be visionary; side by side policies must
come to ensure judicial harnessing of natural resources and environmental integrity
that requires local participation and benefit sharing. The most ubiquitous sustainable
tourism principles involve employment quality, geographical, biological as well as
ethnic diversity and local quality of life and social prosperity. Thus, for promoting
peace and stability in developing countries, tourism industry can play a major role by
providing jobs, generating income, diversifying economy and protecting the
environment.
Internal tourism is had become a major source of income for our neighboring country,
India & China. Recent road and infrastructure development, investments in Hotel,
Tourism sector and growing income of middle class would open a big opportunity of
internal tourism in Nepal also. Young and educated youths are curious to know more
about their country. They are curious to know the soci-economic scenario of the
country. The political change in Nepal and introduction of the federalism in the
country will strengthen the tourism. Each state would promote their native and
indigenous places as well as other items which would enhance the opportunity for
internal as well international tourism.
So what is the need for today? Neat and clean accommodation facilities at affordable
price. Just 15-20 years before, only foreigners were considered as tourists. There
was no concept for internal tourism. The better connectivity between the internal
cities and other places would boom not only internal tourism but also International
tourism. In this 21
st
century people all over the world have high enthusiasms to feel
and touch the natural mysterious artifacts and Nepal is rich in tremendous such
unique resources many of them still unexplored. This reveals that tourism has high
prosperity and most important sector for our national economy.
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