Chapter6 - India - TourismGovernanceBook حوكمة السياحة الهند فصل من كتاب انكليزي PDF
Chapter6 - India - TourismGovernanceBook حوكمة السياحة الهند فصل من كتاب انكليزي PDF
Chapter6 - India - TourismGovernanceBook حوكمة السياحة الهند فصل من كتاب انكليزي PDF
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86 Priyanka Ghosh
Institutes of Hotel
Management
(autonomous)
Indian Institute of
Tourism & Travel
National Council for Management
Hotel Management & Ministry of Tourism
(autonomous)
Catering Technology
(autonomous)
National Institute of
Indian Culinary
Secretary Tourism/Director General Water Sports
Institute (DG) (autonomous)
(autonomous)
role of private sector along with the government in tourism development (National
Tourism Policy, 2002).
Since 2002, India’s tourism governance adopted a strategy of destination brand-
ing which has become important for wider economic development (Hannam, 2010).
Destination branding helps in creating a unique identity of a place which provides
it a competence in the global tourism market (Hannam, 2004). In case of India, the
destination branding occurred through the campaign of “Incredible India,” which
portrayed diversity and exoticness of India. This campaign changed India’s image
as a country of poverty to a country of modern values to be explored by the tourists
(Kant, 2009). According to Bandyopadhyay and Morais (2005), the incredible India
focused on following themes: personal enlightenment and wellness, cultural diver-
sity reflected in the geographical diversity, cultural richness, natural beauty, exotic
wildlife, and royal treatment along with comfort.
Then, in 2005, the Ministry of Tourism launched “Atithi Devo Bhava” to com-
plement the “Incredible India” campaign. The purpose was to sensitize local people
towards preserving India’s cultural heritage as well as to create a sense of responsi-
bility towards domestic and international visitors (Indian Institute of Tourism and
Travel Management, 2011). In September 2018, the Ministry of Tourism launched
“Incredible India” mobile application with respect to growing influence of internet
in disseminating information related to tourism service providers such as domestic
tour operators, adventure tour operators, travel agents, and guides (Ministry of
Tourism, Annual Report 2018–2019). Besides destination branding, other important
factors which boosted India’s tourism sector are deregulation in airline industry,
sustained economic growth, and online marketing of tourism activities (Hannam,
2010).
In terms of tourism governance in India and creating positive image in the global
tourism economy, Kerala presents a successful case study. Kerala-which is branded
as “God’s Own Country” first initiated its tourism development by establishing a
beach resort at Kovalam in 1976 and the state government of Kerala declared tour-
ism as an industry in 1986. Since then Kerala created its own brand in global tour-
ism market especially market in Europe (Kerala Tourism Policy, 2012; Thimm, 2017).
Recently, the state has put more emphasis on attracting domestic tourists as eco-
nomic recession in Europe has affected the share of foreign tourists (Kerala Tourism
Policy, 2012). Kerala receives 12% of India’s international tourists arrival. The major
countries from which Kerala receives bulk of its international tourists are UK, USA,
France, Germany, and Australia (Kerala Tourism Policy, 2012; Thimm, 2017). This
section discusses regional tourism governance in India’s southern state of Kerala
and addresses the discord between Central and State government of India’s while
implementing environmental legislations in the tourism sector.
The discord between state and central governments on tourism development is
often visible through the implementation of Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ), an im-
portant environmental legislation which was first introduced in 1991 (Figure 6.2). In
1996, the Supreme Court of India urged its strict implementation. The entire coastal
areas of India are divided into four coastal zones from the high tide line (HTL) to
500 meters inland (Sreekumar & Parayil, 2002). Zone I extends from the HTL to 500
meters inland and includes ecologically sensitive areas such as national parks, re-
serve forests, wildlife habitats, marine reserves, coral reefs, heritage areas, and
breeding and spawning ground of fish. Zone II is the developed urban areas where
industrial activities are prohibited. Developed and undeveloped rural areas fall
under zone III. In the zone III, rural areas which fall under the HTL to 200 meters
inland are considered as the ‘No Development Zone’ (NDZ). Most of the economic
activities are prohibited in the NDZ (Sreekumar &Parayil, 2002). The CRZ notifica-
tion, 1991 has been amended 34 times after its introduction and as per the 2011 noti-
fication CRZ I also includes the ecologically sensitive areas where tourism activities
and infrastructure development are prohibited (Kukreti 2019).
However, the violation of CRZ can be clearly visible if we trace the historical
development of coastal tourism in Kerala. For instance, in 1998, more than 28% of
coastal violations in Kerala occurred due to tourism activities and more than 26% of
these violations occurred in the NDZ (Sreekumar &Parayil, 2002). Nevertheless, the
state government argued for a relaxation of CRZ regulations irrespective of the fact
that the large NGOs like Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad (KSSP) asked for strict im-
plementation of CRZ. The decision-making process in Kerala’s tourism sector is still
influenced by political elites. Tourism sector in Kerala is largely controlled by the
state government that does not share power to local bodies (Sreekumar & Parayil,
90 Priyanka Ghosh
2002). The violation of CRZ regulations can also be drawn from the Sundarbans re-
gion of India.
Several federal and state government departments manage the Sundarbans re-
gion of India. For example, the Project Tiger which was launched in India in 1973 in
the Sundarbans is under direct supervision of Prime Minister (Ghosh, 2018). CRZ reg-
ulation is applicable for the entire Sundarban Biosphere Reserve and in the recent
past National Green Tribunal (NGT) has ordered to demolish all hotels, resorts, and
lodges. The violation of CRZ notification also included expansion and remodeling of
Sajnekhali Tourist Lodge located in Sajnekhali Wildlife Sanctuary without obtaining
a “Consent to Operate” certificate from the West Bengal Pollution Control Board
(WBPCB). The lodge falls under the CRZ 1 which is the eco-sensitive zone (Gupta,
2015). The state government appealed to the Ministry of Environment, Government of
India, for an amendment of CRZ Notification 2011 and remove the word “biosphere”
from the section 7.i.A(e) of CRZ notification. This would save all the constructions
from demolition in this coastal wetland ecosystem (Bandyopadhyay, 2015).
The centralization of power and decision making by the state government in
Kerala can explicitly be found from the case of Kumarakaran Bird Sanctuary in
which hotels and resorts were built without considering the objections raised by
the local panchayat and environmental activists (Sreekumar & Parayil, 2002). How-
ever, in Kerala Tourism Policy of 2012, the state government of Kerala has recog-
nized the role of local self-governments by stating that:
6 India 91
In planning and development of tourism in destinations, the local self-governments can play a
decisive role. Tourism development programmes will be integrated with other developmental
activities of local self-governments. We will encourage and assist local bodies to form Tourism
Working Group in places of tourism importance. (Kerala Tourism Policy, 2012, p. 12)
Recently, a new Coastal Regulation Zone Notification 2018 has been proposed which
would open more coastal areas for commercial activities thus leading to economic
growth (Kukreti, 2019). Conservationist and Environmental Activists have argued that
risk would be far greater than benefits as ecology and coastal communities will be
vulnerable to rising sea level and natural hazards (Kukreti, 2019).
The state executive power in India lies with the Prime Minister and his cabinet
whereas the bureaucratic power in India lies in the hands of Indian Administrative
Service (Hannam, 2004). Below this hierarchy is the Ministry of Home Affairs which
is responsible for the internal security and depends on its own state apparatus
known as the Indian Police Service (IPS) (Hannam, 2004). The Ministry of Environ-
ment and Forest lies below in terms of hierarchy in the state apparatus and controls
over one third of India’s territory in the sense that one third of the India’s total land
area should be under forest cover (National Forest Policy, 1988). Nature-based tour-
ism and wildlife tourism can take place in this one-third forest land which include
all the national parks and sanctuaries (Hannam, 2004). Forest cover in India also
falls under three categories: Protection forests, national forests, and village forests
(Kumar Sanjay, 2002a). National parks fall under the category of Protection forests
(Hannam, 2004). Ministry of Environment and Forests deploys its power over one-
third of forest land through its own civil service called Indian Forest Service (IFS).
However, this is an elite institution with a complex hierarchical bureaucratic struc-
ture which mostly remained same since the colonial period (Hannam, 1999; 2004).
The Ministry of Tourism in India does not have a similar civil service like the IFS of
the Forest Department (Hannam, 2004).
Tourism development in different states of India often face conflicts with the for-
est management especially in the case of nature-based tourism activities or ecotour-
ism. The Department of Tourism and the Department of Forest often come into
conflicts in terms of building accommodation facilities and other related infrastruc-
ture development. There are more than 800 protected areas (PAs) in India including
national parks and sanctuaries (Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change,
Annual Report 2018–19). These protected areas are smaller in size because increasing
population pressure and existing land use do not allow creation of large, protected
areas in India (Kumar Suhas, 2002b). The size of protected areas in India on average
is less than 300 sq. km. (Karanth & DeFries, 2010). However, the smaller PAs are not
ecologically viable unless PAs are connected to nearby PAs (Kumar, 2002). Certain
92 Priyanka Ghosh
national parks in India are designated to protect certain animal such as tiger based
on the Project Tiger launched in 1973 (Ghosh, 2014; Hannam, 2005). The Project Tiger
was originally launched in nine tiger reserves in India with an objective to protect
and maintain tiger population for ecological, scientific, cultural, and aesthetic value.
The second objective of such a conservation project was to preserve such land for
tourism and recreation. However, this second objective was not received much impor-
tance (Ghosh, 2014; Hannam, 2005). Project Tiger also prohibited hunting within the
boundary of tiger reserve as well as human habitation (Hannam, 2004).
The park managers of tiger reserves in India often see tourism as obstacle rather
than an opportunity (Hannam, 2004; 2005). In other words, tourism has been as subor-
dinated to wildlife conservation, even a major environmental issue in PAs (Hannam,
2004). Even the eco-development projects which were launched around national parks
only cater to reduce biotic pressure by providing livelihood to people living on the
boundary of protected areas. Tourism development is not an important goal of such
eco-development projects and mostly used as an incentive to relocate rural people out-
side the boundaries of national park (Hannam, 2005). Thus, the Ministry of Environ-
ment and Forest is dominant over the tourism department when it comes to tourism
activities in a protected area such as a national park or biosphere reserve.
The dominant role of the Forest Department can be understood through differ-
ent aspects of park management, such as allowing certain number of tourists, ve-
hicles to park entry fee. For example, the Forest Department daily regulates the
number of private vehicles within the boundary of Ranthambore National Park
(Karanth & Defries, 2010). In the Sundarbans Tiger Reserve (STR), number of visi-
tors are regulated through park entry fee of Rs. 40 (US $0.74) per individual (Ghosh,
2014). The number of tourists’ boat is also regulated by the Forest Department, which
also need to pay the park entry (Ghosh, 2014).In some protected areas such as Na-
garahole and Mudumalai, the Forest Department provides bus services for the visitors
(Karanth & Defries, 2010). Most of India’s national parks follow a dual pricing system
in terms of park entry fee. In other words, park entry fee is higher in case of foreign
tourists which is often resented by reducing the duration of stay (Hannam, 2005).
Foreign nationals also pay higher price when it comes to hiring a tour guide (Ghosh,
2014). For instance, in 2012–13 tourist season, the foreign tourists paid Rs. 600
(US $11.05) for hiring a tour guide as compared to Indian nationals who paid Rs. 300
(US $5.53) (Ghosh, 2014). The park managers in India sometimes acknowledge this
dual pricing system and accept it in a positive note that it helps to regulate number
of tourists within the park boundary. Additionally, this dual pricing policy has not
economically benefitted local communities living on the edge of the parks (Ghosh,
2014). The Forest Department manages the tourism revenue in majority of the pro-
tected areas in India except Periyar where 56% of revenues are given to Periyar Foun-
dation for ecodevelopment (Karanth & Defries, 2010).
The influential forest management over tourism also becomes prominent how the
protected area managers in India view the role of tourism in conservation. Tourism is
6 India 93
6.4 Conclusion
Tourism governance in India is largely shaped by the Ministry of Tourism which is
responsible for formation of national tourism policies. However, every state in India
can formulate its own tourism policy (Hannam, 2010). Various types of tourism
94 Priyanka Ghosh
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