India Holidays News

India's supports fast-growing Ecotourism

Ecotourism is emerging as one of the most popular forms of tourism in India where tourists can experience a myriad of diverse culture, scenes of breathtaking natural beauty from snow-capped Himalayan peaks to verdant valleys, vast deserts, beautiful beaches and quiet backwaters.
The Ecotourism Society defines ecotourism as "responsible travel to natural areas which conserves the environment and improves the welfare of the local people."

India’s array of unspoiled nature nurturing some of the world’s rarest animals and plants can be seen while staying at the most luxurious 5-Star hotel or from a tree house perched 60 ft above the ground with hot and cold running water, or from a Homestay, as they are called, where the tourist stays as part of the family.

Homestays allow tourists to experience nature’s rhythm and not just observe it while staying with a family in a simple farmer’s house, a palatial home with empty rooms or in a tree house reached by ladder 60 ft above the jungle floor or on a houseboat on the famed Kerala Backwaters.

Ecotourism is considered the fastest growing market in the tourism industry with an annual growth rate of 5% worldwide and representing 6% of the world gross domestic product, 11.4% of all consumer spending, according to the World Tourism Organization.

“Tourism is one of the fastest growing industries and a strong contributor to sustainable development and poverty alleviation,” said Francesco Frangialli, Secretary-General of the United Nations World Tourism Organization, at a recent meeting.

More than 900 million international tourists travelled last year and the United Nations organization forecasts 1.6 billion tourists by the year 2020 and to reduce the negative impact of this growth, words should be translated into action to sustain the environment, he said.
October 2008