India bans tiger tourism hotels

The Supreme Court on Tuesday temporarily banned any form of tourism in the core areas of tiger reserves to aid conservation efforts.

“We make it clear that till final directions are issued by this court, the core zones or core areas in the tiger reserves will not be used for tourism,” justices Swatanter Kumar and Ibrahim Kalifulla said in their order.

The core zone is an area determined on the basis of scientific and objective criteria as required to be kept inviolate for tiger conservation. For instance, the Corbett tiger reserve’s total area is 1318.54 sq. km., while its core area is 520 sq. km.

Right to information activist Ajay Dubey had filed a special leave petition in the Supreme Court in July 2011 after his petition to ban tourism in the core areas of tiger reserves was rejected by the Madhya Pradesh high court in January that year.

Dubey welcomed the order. “The Wildlife Act was ineffective for an endangered species like the tiger, but this judgement will make sure that the Act is implemented,” he said over the phone from Bhopal. Tiger numbers in the country will improve, he said.

The ruling is not the final decision of the court, said Anuradha Mutatkar, counsel for the Association of Jungle Lodges of Kanha. The ban on tourism in the core areas is till 22 August, when the Supreme Court will give a final ruling in this matter. “The SC (Supreme Court) will look into the guidelines prepared by the National Tiger Conservation Authority and give a final decision,” she said.

Officials of the ministry of environment and forests said they cannot comment until they received an official order.

Conservation efforts have helped reduce tiger deaths, increasing their numbers to 1,706 in 2010 from 1,411 in 2006, according to the latest official numbers available.

But some activists worry that the large number of tourists visiting tiger reserves may be disturbing their habitats. India has 41 tiger reserves. The most visited among them—Corbett, Kanha, Periyar, Ranthambore and Bandhavgarh—attract 150,000-200,000 visitors each every year.

A tiger task force constituted in 2005 to review the management of tiger reserves had recommended that “tourism activities should not be allowed in the core of the national parks and the tiger reserves,” and that wildlife tourism need to be regulated.

“Tourism in tiger reserves needs to be extremely well managed to ensure that the direct impact on the habitats due to tourism is mitigated. The chain of command as well as the management of tourism in tiger reserves has suffered from multiple governing institutions as well as confusion in policy and regulations so far,” the task force said in its report, adding, “Done badly, it (tourism) can lead to further stress on the tiger’s habitat.”

But Vishal Singh, director of the Travel Operators for Tigers lobby group, said there was no scientific evidence to prove that the number of tigers was going down because of tourism.

“Blanket ban in core areas is not the solution. Rules will have to be different for each park,” he said, adding that since the best tiger sightings are in the core areas, tourism revenue will be affected.

Belinda Wright of the Wildlife Protection Society of India said, “Tourists act like the eyes and ears for protection of tigers and tigers have lost them today.”

Courtesy: Livemint.com

Crosswoods holidays 2012 

-----------------------------Thank You---Post Your Comments Below---------------------------

39 sites in Western Ghats get world heritage status

A cluster of 39 sites spread over 7,953.15 sq km in the Western Ghats will now be inscribed in the World Heritage list. These include tiger reserves, national parks, wildlife sanctuaries and reserved forests in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Kerala leads with 20 sites being inscribed in the heritage list followed by Karnataka with ten, Tamil Nadu five and Maharashtra four. In Maharashtra, the Kas plateau, the Koyna wildlife sanctuary, the Chandoli national park and the Radhanagari Wildlife sanctuary in the Sahyadri range have been given the world heritage site tag.

The decision to include the 39 sites was taken by a 21-nation panel of the World Heritage Committee (WHC) at its meeting currently on at St Petersburg, Russia. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), the official World Heritage advisory body on nature, in its recommendation did not include the Western Ghats as four of the sub-clusters were not contiguous as contended by India and many did not have buffer zones. Among the concerns expressed were mining in Sindhdurga district (Radhanagari Sanctuary) and that there was no overarching management plan for the nominated sites.

India had submitted the nomination dossier to the Unesco World Heritage Centre, Paris, in February 2010. Former environment minister Jairam Ramesh had pushed hard for their inclusion and had also set up the Western Ghats Ecology Expert Panel to study and provide recommendations to protect the ghats.

In its media release, the WHC said a series of protected areas across the Western Ghats in India were added to Unesco's list of iconic places after a persistent campaign for world heritage status by the Indian government. "Mountains, rainforests, rivers and waterfalls are all part of the 160,000 sq km area, recognized as a global biodiversity hotspot. The Western Ghats are home to a number of flagship mammals including the endangered endemic lion-tailed Macaque, the endangered Asian elephant and the tiger.''

Lena Pillars Nature Park in Russia was also added to the prestigious list by the WHC.Crosswoods holidays 2012

Courtesy : Times Of India

 ----------------------------Thank You---Post Your Comments Below---------------------------

Houseboat strikes mar tourism prospects of Kumarakom

The frequent strikes by houseboat operators and workers not only put the houseboat industry in Kumarakom in turmoil, but also left a deep scar on the image of the popular tourist destination.

It was sheer uncertainty that prevailed in the last three weeks here by the unexpected strike called by the workers who demanded hike in salary. The houseboat owners too suspended the services later disagreeing with the employees' demands. This had put both domestic and foreign tourists, who had made advance bookings, in trouble.

On Monday, hours after beginning the strike, a section of houseboat workers temporarily withdrew from it following the intervention of local police.

"Government did not handle the situation properly. They are responsible for tarnishing the image of Kumarakom," said Sreekumar, a tour operator based in Kumarakom. "When my guests insist on houseboats I am forced to book houseboats in Alappuzha. It is the houseboat owners and the workers in Kumarakom who will suffer in the long run if bookings are directed to Alappuzha," he said.

"As tour operators, we only try to increase bookings and it will benefit Aleppey while Kumarakom will be at a loss," he said.

Another tour operator Binu said that the resorts here too will suffer due to the strike if the tourists are forced to remain confined to their rooms owing to strikes and it will in turn affect the whole tourism industry here.

Meanwhile, All Kerala Houseboat Owners Association (AKHOA) member R R Joshiraj said that there were no such issues in Alappuzha houseboat industry.

"Now, here is no problem between the houseboat employees and owners. If the houseboat employees in Kumarakom continue their strike, we expect more foreigners to Alappuzha for houseboat cruising," he said.

All Kerala Houseboats and Resorts Workers Union (CITU) leader C K Sadasivan MLA said, "If employees and owners conduct such strikes again, it will destroy the industry. So we will abstain from such strikes," he said.

Tourists, especially foreign tourists who stay in resorts here now depend on 'Kerala model Kashmir Shikaras'. Kunjumon who owns such a boat said that the demand for these boats is high at present. "But these boats can be used only for canal cruise and not in the backwaters," he said.

On Monday, a section of the houseboat workers began strike in the morning and tried to stop the boats which were in service. Following this, the owners sought police protection, said Pushkaran, president of the owners' association. Police briefed the workers that they were violating the agreement reached upon in the discussion with the tourism minister earlier.

Kumarakom SI M J Arun held talks with the workers following which they temporarily withdrew from the strike. "The workers said that they would discuss the issue with district CITU leaders and decide on the future course of action," he said. Meanwhile, Pushkaran said that the whole issue was the result of immaturity of the leadership of the workers.

"We have informed about the situation to the CITU senior leaders," he said.

According to the new two-year-agreement, the boat workers will get Rs 6,750 per month and a monthly allowance of Rs 170. But the workers on strike in Kumarakom wanted to reduce this contract period to one year.

Courtesy : TimesOfIndia

Crosswoods holidays 2012

----------------------------Thank You---Post Your Comments Below---------------------------

Hospitality skills gap to be bridged through education and skill development

The Ministry of Tourism reckons an additional manpower requirement of 2.03 lakh in the hospitality sector during the 12th Plan period. The Ministry proposes to achieve this through expansion of institutional infrastructure; broad-basing of hospitality education; skill up-gradation and certification of service providers; skill development through short duration courses, through hotels and in niche and other products.

Addressing a conclave on Furthering Quality Capacity Building in Tourism-2012, Mr Sanjay Kothari, Special Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, pointed out, “The focus of the private sector should be on short duration courses; introduction of hospitality as vocational subject at secondary education and synergy of efforts with other ministries and organisations of Government of India and state governments.”

The 12th Plan (2012-17) envisages a growth of 12 per cent per annum in inbound and domestic tourists. The current initiatives and the ones proposed are expected to generate 25 million additional direct and indirect jobs in the country.

On the occasion, Mr Kothari also released the FICCI-YES Bank theme paper Furthering Quality Capacity Building in Tourism which emphasises that tourism sector touches a wide value chain, and it is imperative that investments into, and benefits garnered from the sector, spread out more widely and efficiently amongst the populace, thereby acting as a strong socio-economic enabler.

Mr Sidharth Birla, Vice President, FICCI, said, “The conclave aims to focus on furthering quality capacity building in four key and ground level elements for the tourism industry, namely tourist guides, taxi drivers, hotels and restaurants and tour operators and travel agents.”

“The hospitality sector is comparatively better developed with many training Institutes in place. However, capacity building needs to be institutionalised for emerging options such as budget hotels, serviced apartments and restaurants and hotels in the unorganised segment, to improve service levels,” he added.

Dr Jyotsna Suri, Chairperson, FICCI Tourism Committee and Chairperson & Managing Director, The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group, remarked, “The unorganised sector is a cause for concern as the level of training is uncertain although the experience of the tourists is also affected by their services. Budget hotels, restaurants, wayside amenities, small tour operators and travel agents and drivers all come under this sector.”

She called for periodic assessment by the corporate sector and the policy makers must be carried out across the key focus areas to ensure that the guidelines are adhered to and are implemented. According to Mr Tushar Pandey, President & Country Head, Strategic Initiatives Government & Advisory (SIGA) Group, YES Bank Ltd., to enhance the skills of the workforce in the travel and tourism trade, a number of initiatives would have to be undertaken by the stakeholders. These include:

The policies and guidelines have to be in sync with the market. An active industry-academia alliance is one way to ensure this, while constant interaction between the industry and the government can help the policy formulation process.

• Tour guide associations should be consultative partners during policy formulation as well as feedback.
• Assessment of training programmes is still an area of concern, since while following the criteria of ‘minimum percentage’ or ‘passing grade’ would suffice for technical, it loses its accuracy in terms of vocational education, where the purpose is ‘enabling’ instead of ‘evaluating’.
• The owner of the taxi stands/the operators on ground need to be roped in by the Department of Tourism in each state to train the ground drivers.
• The drivers, who often face precarious situations like accident and road blocks need to be trained in crisis management skills and first aid administration.
• The concept of People Public Private Partnership (PPPP) or Public Social Private Partnership (PSPP) as a more inclusive form of development is gaining force as an attempt to restore the social equity in PPP models, as the dispersive nature of the effects of incremental tourism tend to affect a wide part of the society.

Dr Arbind Prasad, Director General, FICCI, stated, “An investment of Rs 10 lakh creates 78 jobs in the tourism sector while the same generates just 18 jobs in the manufacturing and 45 in the agriculture sector.” This clearly shows the potential of the tourism sector and the conclave aims to focus exclusively on furthering the quality of capacity building to offer the tourists a pleasant and meaningful experience that would go a long way in furthering the strong image of ‘Incredible India’.

Courtesy : Indiaeducationdairy

Crosswoods holidays 2012 

-----------------------------Thank You---Post Your Comments Below---------------------------