28-02-07 Sustainable tourism: a real possibility?

KATHMANDU, Nepal -- Yesterday, Eco-Himal hosted at the Annapurna hotel the workshop “Pro-poor Sustainable Tourism in Nepal: Lessons Learned and the Way Forward, an event organized with the support of SNV and IUCN�.  

The blockage of a bridge in Kathmandu did only partially affect the well organized event, where representatives from the private sector and from development agencies had the chance to interact, looking for news ways of combining tourism with sustainable development.

The discussion about sustainable tourism has received worldwide attention since the summit in Rio de Janeiro. After many years, the issue still represents a key topic and an important challenge. A tourism without interaction with and without the support from the local people can undermine existing sustainable processes within the communities, slowing down or completely jeopardizing local development.

On the contrary, a carefully planned tourism can bring advantages not only in terms of income increase and job creation, but also in terms of bio-diversity protection, boosting at the same time dignity, local pride and identity.

During the workshop, a number of representatives from the private sector (Explore himalay, Explore Nepal, Tiger Mountain among others) presented innovative ways to develop pro-poor sustainable tourism produces ensuring a the same time a commercial viability of destinations and services. At the same time, development organizations (like Eco-Himal and the SNV) presented possible ways to involve communities in making the local environment more appealing, investing in education, infrastructure and capacity building.

Also the DSS-Partership had the chance to point out the multiple positive impacts that the project might achieve in terms of promoting sustainable tourism: in supporting informed decision making on natural resource management, the project encourages the involvement of private sector, communities and central level organizations and interacts with them to create the conditions to enhance tourism, taking into account the ecological, the social and the economical dimension.

There is still much to do. However, the workshop provided an interesting opportunity for bridging the gap between private interests and local development. The two things can actually go hand in hand, and it is about time for all the actors involved in this sector to realize it.

Marcello Basani, Ev-K²-CNR Field Officer