Documentation

The United Nations (UN) General Assembly has approved the adoption of 2017 as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development. Our quest of probing tourism from the lens/ point of view of “Who Really Benefits from Tourism?” brings into the foreground certain realities, issues and concerns that makes us question - is tourism in the country actually moving towards sustainability or is sustainable tourism an oxymoron? Sustainable tourism, which has been chosen as the cornerstone to guide tourism development in the years to come is the step in the right direction. However, the concern is on how these ideas will be translated into actionable points. The fear is that in the absence of a clear understanding of what the framework, guidelines & action plan of sustainable tourism encompasses,, it then is left to be interpreted by each entity in the way they want it, to meet their interest and will continue to remain on paper unless given serious thought and delivered upon. Our concern stems from the way tourism has grown in this country, the dilution of regulatory frameworks to push tourism, the policies that are over loaded with the industry perspective of tourism development and negligible attention being given to the perspectives of local communities and looking into the wide impacts of tourism. To illustrate our point of view, we build the discussion based on two case studies that were adjudicated by the National Green Tribunal, one with respect to coastal tourism and the other hill tourism. The time is running out, unless “Sustainable Tourism” is not adopted in true spirit and practice, it is not long when even the concept of “Sustainable Development” will be up for sale.

The way mainstream tourism is growing in Sunderbans, it is evident that Kumirmari will not remain an as exception in witnessing such unplanned tourism development. If the current practices are pursued, we, the people of Kumirmari will have to pay a heavy price of losing our rights over the lands, forests and rivers and letting the uniqueness of the social and cultural resources of the region to fade away. In the not so distant future, we may also be displaced from our homeland.

First notified in 1994, by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEFCC), Government of India, under the Environmental (Protection) Act 1986, the notification mandated EIA for expansion or modernization of any activity or for setting up new projects listed in schedule of the notification. However, the notification was amended nearly twelve times, each time diluting the regulatory mandate of the notification. The MoEFCC carried out studies on the effectiveness of the 1994 notification and concluded that it was procedurally cumbersome, fraught with delays, requiring disproportionate amounts of details with each application, time consuming, and resulting in poor quality reports by consultants.

In 2006, the MoEFCC introduced a new EIA notification, replacing the 1994 (much amended)
version. It is this new notification and its implications on tourism that is subject of scrutiny of
this paper.

Engendering tourism policy and understanding tourism impact on women will be key steps to combating the discrimination, feminisation and informalisation of women workforce in tourism.

In April 2014, Supreme Court recognized transgender as the third gender and subsequently Karnataka was the first state to constitute committee to frame a policy for transgenders, in line with the Apex Court order.The Karnataka government is ready with the final draft of its policy for trans genders and circulated it to all departments for comments and suggestions. the interests of the transgender communities in tourism and awareness of the tourism industry towards issues of transgender people is critical. We have made some comments and suggestions from the tourism perspective to the Karnataka Transgender Policy-2014.

Tourism is not just a holiday, it changes the entire social, cultural and economic nature of the place where it thrives. There are social costs: abuse of women, children particularly those forced into sex work, trafficking and child labour because of tourism. Ministry of tourism announced Draft National Tourism Policy of India in May 2015 and given only 10 day for public comments.While it is the prerogative of the elected governments to form policy based on its promises as articulated in its manifestos and other documents, it is equally important to ensure that the process of policy formulation in the country is transparent and democratically decided. For tourism, the only directive giving document is the National Tourism Policy. Therefore, we believe that this document needs to be given the same consideration as the passing of any legislation and therefore brought to the Parliament for a discussion and a wider consensus. The government's attempt to scuttle this process by introducing it in the Cabinet is a manifestation of its autocratic nature which will affect millions of people whose homes have been turned into products to be traded in the tourism market.

The legislation is modelled on the private members’ Transgender bill moved by Rajya Sabha MP Tiruchi Siva and passed by the Upper House on April 24, 2015. This was the first time in 45 years that a private members’ Bill had been passed by the House, forcing the government to assure the House that it would bring it’s own law in Lok Sabha after “correcting infirmities” in Siva’s Bill. The Social Justices Empowerment ministry had several rounds of consultations and has finally moved a Cabinet note. Many provisions of Transgender Bill have been accommodated in the government legislation except for provision for exclusive transgender rights courts, reservation in primary, secondary and higher educational institutions, incentives to employers in private sector, special employment exchanges and national and state commissions for transgender persons.We have made some comments and suggestions from the tourism perspective to the Rights of Transgender Persons Bill, 2015. We request to take these into consideration fill finalising the Bill.

This publication called the 'Working Paper Series 2012-15' is a compilation of our Papers and Campaigns for the year 2012-15

The close linkage of tourism and souvenir products creates great potential of the tourism sector in marketing and publicity of handicrafts. However, it also raises pertinent questions about nature of promotion of handicrafts in tourism and its implications on artisans and the art itself. The artisan needs to be seen and valued as an artist by giving the craft products their rightful place in its cultural context and ensuring real cultural exchange through tourism.

We believe that participation of local communities in tourism is a matter of right rather than an act of benevolence on the part of the industry. This paper offers the political framework within which we seek community involvement in tourism and propose different levels of community engagement along a progressive spectrum, which is inspired by the understanding of people's participation.

One of the major trends in tourism is the continuous reiteration of tourism as a vehicle for women empowerment, mainly through employment generation. However, there is ignorance about the gender-blind framework embedded in the employment opportunities offered by tourism. In this context, the paper highlights an overwhelming influence of patriarchy on tourism. Further, the paper raises questions on if tourism offers a space for women to choose the employment opportunities or force them to opt as a survival strategy? Core to the issues is not only ensuring better working condition in the sector but the need to examine the claim made by the tourism industry as one of the major employer of women within the right-based framework.

Ecotourism as a model of tourism in forest areas has been growing for the past 8-10 years. It is being seen as a driver for conservation and development of local communities. While the definition of ecotourism clarifies its role in conservation, conservation education and local area development, the experience of tourism tells a different story. This briefing sheet discusses 4 important myths surrounding ecotourism.

Ecotourism as a model of tourism in forest areas has been growing for the past 8-10 years. It is being seen as a driver for conservation and development of local communities. While the definition of ecotourism clarifies its role in conservation, conservation education and local area development, the experience of tourism tells a different story. The briefing sheet highlights the issues and concerns about ecotourism from the perspective of local communities in and around forest areas.

The briefing sheet focuses on the different dimensions of Corporate Accountability in Tourism with the aim to demonstrate the nuances involved in understanding the issue beyond the limited definitions of corporate social responsibility that corporations like to circumscribe themselves in. It also highlights the role of the different stakeholders in ensuring that corporations are held accountable for their actions.

This dossier is located within the context of increasing global discontent and community protest against interventions of International Financial Institutions (IFIs) in the developing world. It specifically presents a questioning and critique of their operations in tourism. As the nature and impacts of tourism cross boundaries and affects entire regions, we present an analysis of the issue based on experiences from the Asian region and in specific areas of focus of IFI activities. The dossier has important contributions from activists who have been writing and campaigning on these issues, in addition to EQUATIONS’ own work on monitoring and researching IFI activities in tourism

This dossier is located within the context of increasing global discontent and community protest against interventions of International Financial Institutions (IFIs) in the developing world. It specifically presents a questioning and critique of their operations in tourism. As the nature and impacts of tourism cross boundaries and affects entire regions, we present an analysis of the issue based on experiences from the Asian region and in specific areas of focus of IFI activities. The dossier has important contributions from activists who have been writing and campaigning on these issues, in addition to EQUATIONS’ own work on monitoring and researching IFI activities in tourism. It also includes the depositions on the tourism sector which was part of the Independent People’s Tribunal on the World Bank Group held from the 21st – 24th of September, 2007 in New Delhi. This dossier aims to reach out to movements, grass-roots groups, civil society organisations, researchers and policy makers drawing attention to the implications of increasing IFI activities in tourism in the region. We call for more research, campaign and advocacy on these critical issues.

On July 24th, 2012, the Supreme Court passed an interim order in the case of Ajay Dubey vs. National Tiger Conservation Authority & Ors. (SLA (Civil) No (s). 21339/2011 disallowing tourism in core areas of Tiger Reserves and a direction that all states notify the core and buffer areas of tiger reserves within 3 weeks. This interim order has generated a lot of debate in the country in which conservationists, tourism industry and forest rights activists have vociferously participated. EQUATIONS Commentary on the interim order seeks to debate these from the point of view of communities in and around protected areas.

With reference to the case study on Chilika the paper is about studying the trends in tourism development in Odisha – what was it earlier – what have been the shifts since declaration of it as an ‘industry’. Understanding tourism policy / any legislation that maybe in place brought in to boost expansion of tourism in the state. Has the state come up with any Ecotourism Policy? Has there been push towards opening up of more and more ecosystems for ecotourism. Change in any other laws that may favour tourism – for e.g. land. Study the impacts of tourism project in Chilika - ecotourism development in an eco-fragile area, impact on environment, on the life of the communities, their rights, establishment of tourism mechanism such as Chilika Development uthority (CDA) to boost ecotourism.

This paper is an abridged version of EQUATIONS' paper titled 'IFIs, Tourism and Accountability: Emerging Trends'. It highlights the current trends on IFI investment in the development of tourism infrastructure.
This paper was published in the publication: 'Beyond Greening: Reflections on Tourism in the Rio-Process by EED in June 2012.

This paper highlights issues with promoting ecotourism as a market based conservation tool. It is based on 2 earlier papers that EQUATIONS has been involved in: Forests, Communities and Tourism (EQUATIONS, October 2011) and Green India Mission: India’s REDD+ Action Plan to disempower and evict forest communities from their own homelands (AIFFM and EQUATIONS, October 2011)).
This paper was published in the publication: 'Beyond Greening: Reflections on Tourism in the Rio-Processby EED in June 2012.