An inquiry into the intersection of culture and sustainability in tourism

Significance of Sustainable tourism:

According to WTO (World Tourism Organisation), sustainable tourism refers to “leading to management of all resources in such a way that economic, social and aesthetic needs can be fulfilled while maintaining cultural integrity, essential ecological processes, biological diversity, and life support system”. The tourism industry can produce a substantial foreign monetary exchange, provide employment and reduce status disparities, boost the eco-system, strengthen the state economy, and promote local arts and architecture. 

SWOT Analysis in Sustainable Tourism: SWOT is a model that recognizes strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and external threats in an existing system. (Ghanbhari, 2012) It is an essential instrument to plan and analyze the tourism industry strategically. Considering all the facets at small and large scales in tourism, a systematic approach can help ideate, innovate, and develop.

Identifying strengths: Determining available resources unique to the given context can help in its effective planning. Sensitizing the place by involving the locals and community members can generate revenue, growing the local economy.

Understanding of weaknesses: Identifying the insensibility to the environment by the tourists can help strategize for resource management and conservation.

Exploring opportunities: Adapting to sustainable practices in the context of managing waste, energy renewals, usage of biodegradable objects, and generating experiences of culture contextual to the place by promoting traditional resources can prevent any foreign insertion from tampering with its authenticity. 

Predicting threats: Threats related to over-crowding and management of places, determining extreme climate changes, and analysis can help in developing mitigation strategies to protect the ecosystem. 

Tourism in the Context of India and its Culture

Tourism is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world. The tourism industry provides employment to the locals which in turn helps in revenue generation. It also exposes tourists and travelers to different cultures and lifestyles. However, tourism as a concept in the industry was considered a resource in the last century itself; otherwise, the travels were either carried out for business purposes or for religious journeys. 

Today, with easy access to transport facilities, people from urban cities have faster lives than ever, and there has been an immense increase in the magnitude of such visits in the name of rejuvenation. This has led to a lot of environmental and ecological damage to their respective environments.

In a country like India, where we see rich diversity in religious beliefs and culture, pilgrimage as tourism is significant due to the purpose that it serves. Pilgrimage is a ritual journey of visiting heritage places or a visit to take blessings from their respective gods or deities to attain ‘Moksha’ (salvation). Various pilgrimage journeys in India are Char Dham yatra, Vaishno Devi, Bodh Gaya walk, Rameshwaram, Varanasi, and many more. For smooth transport logistics, there are cities or areas marked as a starting point for these journeys amongst which Rishikesh Dehradun is one of the important ones in Uttarakhand.

Rishikesh which is situated on the Himalayan foothills, is considered the spiritual capital of the world. People from across the world have visited Rishikesh since it houses thousands of registered yoga and meditation schools. Rishikesh witnesses one of the best celebrated Ganga Aarti at Parmarth Niketan (one of the oldest spiritual schools) and Triveni Ghats, attracting thousands of tourists everyday. Along with it being a base for pilgrimage journeys, Rishikesh also serves as an important base point for major Himalayan treks. This city, because of its diverse nature of resources, attracts tourists from India and across the world. Hence, tourism is the main component for the economy to survive, requiring development in infrastructure, hospitality spaces, entertainment, and transport. It also showcases local arts and crafts, crafts, antique items, and ornaments such as stones, which are essential to economic growth. 

Visitors in Rishikesh have been increasing at a tremendous rate year after year, but the facilities and necessary resources remain at a suboptimal level; hence creating a disharmony in the ecology of the place. This phenomenon can be referred to as ‘mass tourism’. Due to such disharmony, there is a severe lack of standard accommodation facilities, poor access to places, unsanitary conditions, unhealthy food, and a lack of parking places. Hence, the imbalance in the biosphere has led the researchers to formulate and plan various sustainable tourism strategies that save the environment and help the locals sustain. 

SWOT Analysis: A case study of Rishikesh and the context of Uttarakhand

Strengths:

1. Unique mountain environment with geographical features such as glaciers, mountains, rivers, and valleys.
2. Trekking base points and paths 
3. Lesser encroachment due to strict rules and regulations by the Forestry Department.
4. Existing national parks and sanctuaries preserve endangered species. 

Weakness:

1. Unexpected scenarios in disaster-prone areas, such as landslides and cloudbursts.
2. Low maintenance of all types of wastes, leads to huge dumps causing harm to the natural ecology.
3. No awareness of eco-tourism amongst the locals and operating organizations.
4. Lack of efficient modes of transport
5. Rigid participation of the locals and community members.
6. Lack of equal revenue distribution

Opportunities: 

1. A Potential to explore the fields of eco-tourism, adventure sports activities like treks, camping, and water sports like rafting.
2. Commercialize local crafts and arts such as woodwork, metalwork, and embroidery to generate internal revenues and open job opportunities.

Threats:

1. Mass tourist flows during vacations and peak seasons.
2. Congestion due to mismanaged traffic.
3. Natural disasters

References:

Ghanbari, H., Pour, M.A.A. and Barshod, A. (2012) ‘Using SWOT analysis in tourism studies with system approach.,’ Advances in Environmental Biology, 6(11), pp. 2953–2957. http://www.aensiweb.com/old/aeb/2012/2953-2957.pdf.

‘SUSTAINABLE TOURISM IN UTTRAKHAND (POTENTIAL, OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES)’ (2019) Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (JETIR), 6(3).

Yadav, A.S., and Bajpai (2015) ‘TOURISM ECONOMY OF THE HIMALAYA ON A SUSTAINABLE TRAIL: A CASE STUDY OF HARIDWAR AND RISHIKESH REGION OF UTTARAKHAND,’ ResearchGate [Preprint]. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317357130_TOURISM_ECONOMY_OF_THE_HIMALAYA_ON_A_SUSTAINABLE_TRAIL_A_CASE_STUDY_OF_HARIDWAR_AND_RISHIKESH_REGION_OF_UTTARAKHAND/citations.