Medical tourism is likely to be the next major foreign exchange earner for India as an increasing number of patients, unwilling to accept long queues in Europe or high costs in the US, are travelling
A draft copy of the proposed Eco-tourism policy for Sikkim, that includes creation of an autonomous regulatory Sikkim Eco-tourism Council, has been prepared by Ecotourism Conservation Society of Sikkim (ECOSS). The proposed autonomous council headed by a chairperson has two tiers below it. Sikkim Eco-tourism Directorate with a Chief Operating Officer will coordinate the allied agencies in regulating and boosting ecotourism activities in the state. The proposed Council will have representations from different stakeholders and state forest officials. The directorate will have four different departments to fulfill the objectives of the policy. The State Government has positioned Sikkim as the ultimate ecotourism destination and identified it as a thrust industry, said Renzino Lepcha, the Executive Secretary, ECOSS while outlining the rationale behind the proposed policy. "Ecotourism represents a core element of Sikkim tourism initiatives and projects. Thus, the need for an ecotourism guideline for the State is essential in order to coordinate and bring synergy and integration between the various stakeholders in ecotourism,' said Lepcha to UNI. "Its time that Sikkim should prepare guidelines that reflect its natural and cultural characteristics, besides preserving it for the future. Some states have already done their policy,' he said. "The four interpretations of the proposed draft were Samraman, Sahyog (cooperation and interdependence among the stakeholders), Sahabhagita (participation in all activities) and Samrakshan (conservation). Conservation is supreme in eco-tourism,' said Lepcha. Eleven different strategies have been formulated to fulfill the objectives of the ecotourism policy by ECOSS in the draft copy, after brainstorming with the stakeholders. The strategies include product development, publicity, forging private public partnerships, monitoring and benefit sharing mechanism. Tour agents, joint forest management committee and other stakeholders have been asked to submit their suggestions to make the policy a model policy. The ECOSS Executive Secretary said the policy could be adopted in the second week of March after it is submitted to the state government by the Eco-tourism Circle of the forest department. T D Rai, Director of the eco-tourism cell of the State Forest Department, told UNI that eco tourism falls mainly in forest areas, which are under the jurisdiction of the Forest Department and attracts the Central and State Forest Acts. The development of ecotourism activities in these areas can be done after making it as a component of the management plan of forest and wild areas, he said.
The rapid growth of India's exports of commercial services during the period 2000-2006, from US $ 16 billion to US $ 72.8 billion, and of India's share in world exports from 1.1 per cent to 2.7 per cent provides ample evidence of India's international competitiveness in the services sector as a whole. However, calculations of Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) show falling RCA in respect of travel (tourism) and transportation (of which shipping is the major component) and accelerating RCA in
Chhattisgarh grows an incredible 23,000 varieties of rice and the State government plans to make use of this fact to promote tourism in the tribal state. "This was found only recently during a
Backwater tourism is thriving on account of the pristine beauty of the Vembanad Lake and the unfading greenery of Kuttanad. But the free-for-all attitude of the industry has been posing a grave
Backwater tourism has been fast changing the face of towns and villages on the rim of the Vembanad Lake in the Alappuzha-Kumarakam belt in Kerala. Many hotels, resorts and homestays have sprang up in
Sikkim has been chosen by UNESCO as one of the sites for developing eco-tourism. This initiative is being worked out in collaboration with the Seattle-based Environment Coalition of South or ECOSS
A 93-kilometre tourist drive through the disputed Tarkine wilderness has been approved by Environment Minister Tony Burke despite concerns it may further endanger Tasmanian devils. Mr Burke said on
The committee set up to prepare a comprehensive master plan for the development of Kochi has decided to focus on education, tourism and information technology which can bring in vast changes in the
One of Asia's biggest wetlands, Keshopur Chamb, which was on the verge of extinction owing to an assortment of reasons, has got a fresh lease of life with a booster dose of Rs 8.10 crore. The wetland,
Registering a steady pace of growth, and emerging as an ideal destination for investments in the power and tourism sectors, the economy of Himachal Pradesh economy is all set to grow by 9 per cent during the current year, ,which is higher than the national estimate of 8.6 per cent. The latest economic survey report presented in the House on Tuesday
In a novel initiative that would serve the dual purpose of promoting tourism and creating environmental awareness, an elephant village, probably the first of its kind in the country, is coming up
In the age of the globalisation of disaster, it illustrates the limits of empathy. Or you could simply call it disaster tourism. And it wasn't immediately striking. In fact, in the wake of the
The Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee government is adding a dash of dough and stirring the cup of tea tourism to let its flavour draw all those bitten by the travel bug. It has shortlisted seven tea gardens
Punjab Vidhan Sabha session will start on February 27. This was announced after a meeting of the Council of Ministers here today. The meeting was chaired by Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. This will be the sixth session of the 13th Punjab Vidhan Sabha.
The West Bengal government is contemplating to introduce elephant safari in and around Garumara National Park in north Bengal for promotion of tourism as well as gainful use of its large number of
Manali, which is one of the most frequented international tourist destinations, has now been "over developed for tourism with negative environmental consequences." These are the views of John Sims,
<p>In the last decade the African continent has been facing a number of incidences on rhino poaching and we may be heading to rhino extinction. A number of strategies have been tried and tested to protect
The Principal Secretary Tourism, Culture and sports, Mr. PL Punia said on Thursday that it was proposed to spend an amount of Rs 2093.33 crore on tourism development in Uttar Pradesh during the 10th
Despite the noise that the State Government routinely makes about its efforts to development tourism in Assam, it is obvious there is much that needs to be done before the industry gains any
