Travelling is just another experience that’s better than anything, people travel to different places in their quest to learn and enjoy. More or less, Travelling and tourism has always been an effective source of revenue generation but to its harsh aspect, tourism not only has pros but it also has hard cons. Tourism is a service industry and caters most of its services in a more standard way where natural resource are being manipulated and envisioned according to the benefits and wants of the clients.
To be more precise being responsible while travelling was not a concept of the past. In fact reality of today is after realizing the loss and understanding the responsibility, these days’ travelers and tourism entrepreneurs are more concern of being responsible from both ends.
In one hand tourism can bring good changes like revenue generation and employment opportunities but on other hand it can also result in externalities like pollution, change in social cultural behavior and other aspect of cultural shocks. Highlighting the externalities of different aspect of tourism these days a new concept of Eco-tourism has evolved and drawn attention of all. It’s not just about using the resources and being independent but it’s about being responsible and making tourism sustainable. The concept of Eco tourism is grasping tourism entrepreneurs who are looking for a sustainable solution not to market their business but to create effective solution in finding and fighting with the hard hitting externalities. Another concept of Ecotourism focuses on prioritizing conservation, education, traveler responsibility and active community participation in creating and understanding, adapting and survival techniques. It is characterized in following points
•            Conscientious, low-impact visitor behavior
•            Sensitivity towards, and appreciation of, local cultures and biodiversity
•            Support for local conservation efforts
•            Sustainable benefits to local communities
•            Local participation in decision-making
•            Educational components for both the traveler and local communities
World Conservation Union (IUCN) defines Eco tourism as, “”Environmentally responsible travel to natural areas, in order to enjoy and appreciate nature (and accompanying cultural features, both past and present) that promote conservation, have a low visitor impact and provide for beneficially active socio-economic involvement of local peoples.”
Tourism today has boomed unnecessary and increased in tourism activities without appropriate planning and management is threatening the ecosystems and local cultures. Â Environmental degradation can be one of the results of the increase of visitors to ecologically sensitive areas. Â Likewise, local communities and indigenous cultures can be harmed in numerous ways by an influx of foreign visitors and wealth.
A good example of the tourism’s hard effects is the world’s highest peak Mount Everest which has been termed “the world’s highest junkyard” due to waste left on its slopes. Though clean up camps have been organized but dues to lack of ignorance of authorities and travelers the fragile Himalayan ecosystem is in a threat due to environmental degradation.
The region is losing its precious forests which have resulted in soil erosion and other related problems. Similarly, tourism is the major cause of deforestation in the Himalayas as firewood is the main fuel used for cooking and heating in the mountains. Littering is yet another problem that has serious consequences. In such places the concept and practice of eco tourism can not only save the environment but also help to resourcefully sustain it. Due to the efforts of many organizations working for eco friendly travel practices, people are getting more aware of ecotourism but the efforts are not in the proportion of the problem. With in such risks there is a significant opportunities for both conservation and local communities.
Looking at it strategically Ecotourism can provide far better option for the protection of national parks and other natural areas within it available resources and planning. Additionally, ecotourism can provide a viable economic development alternative for local communities with few other income-generating options. Moreover, ecotourism can increase the level of education and activism among travelers, making them more enthusiastic and effective agents of conservation.
Ecotourism has also become popular among people interested in both environmental conservation and sustainable development making it a win-win development strategy for undeveloped rural areas.
Looking at the practice of the recent project the Marketing Assistance to Nepal for Sustainable Tourism Products (MAST-Nepal) one can see the difference. The project was implemented between August 2006 – June 2008. In general the MAST project can be regarded as a win-win sustainable business development project. The businesses involved gained immense benefits and so did their staff, the local people, the environment, and the Nepalese economy either directly or indirectly from the project. The project focused on capacity building and had a sound methodological approach that motivated participants and stimulated innovation. Two years after the project finished participating businesses are convinced that responsible travel makes sense. The project was designed to expand business opportunities for tourism entrepreneurs (from tour operators to hotels) in Nepal by building their capacity to develop and deliver responsible tourism products, understand how to market themselves as a responsible travel company and by linking them to the European sustainable tourism market. In many ways marketing incentives were used to encourage behavior change towards more responsible business practices. For the MAST project responsible tourism practices involve 3 key areas:
•            Economic – increase tourism benefits to the poor and improve the livelihoods of the Nepalese people
•            Environmental – minimize tourism related environmental damage
•            Socio-cultural – preserve and promote the local socio-cultural lifestyle
The project had three specific objectives:
a) To build capacity within tourism intermediaries in Nepal on development of more sustainable tourism products.
b) To improve the marketing of sustainable tourism products by tourism companies in Nepal and Europe.
c) To raise awareness in Nepal and Europe for industry, public authorities and civil society on the benefits and tools to develop, implement and market sustainable tourism activities.
Eco-tourism development is visualized as a development tool which not only helps in promoting tourism growth but also helps in reducing poverty particularly in the rural areas. In Nepal, though poverty is widespread, it worst in the mountain areas. Economic pursuits in those areas are limited to agriculture, livestock and trans-boundary trade. All these activities suffer from low productivity, and are subsistence oriented. Eco-tourism is expected to engage them in the higher productivity areas by linking to commercial process, and marketing chain extending beyond borders.
Like such, with an ambition of poverty alleviation through sustainable tourism, the Tourism for Rural Poverty Alleviation Programme (TRPAP) is an initiative of the Nepal Government toward eco-tourism in Nepal with technical and financial support from various international development agencies and non government organisations. The Programme is believed to contribute to the poverty alleviation objective of the government through sustainable tourism development that is pro-poor, pro-environment, pro-rural communities and pro-women, making the benefits of tourism reach grass-roots level in the specific programme sites.
Eco tourism provides an overall participation and viable income-generating opportunities for local people in an effective and efficient way. Thus, in an eco tourism-based economy, money creates greater amounts of money and greater average living standards. It provides better utilization of resources in creating better opportunity for sustainable development at individual level.
Shreedeep Rayamajhi
