The UNWTO Conference on Sustainable Tourism Development, hosted by the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, in collaboration with the Government of Andhra Pradesh, was recently held in Hyderabad in conjunction with the 25th Joint Meeting of the UNWTO Commission for East Asia and the Pacific and UNWTO Commission for South Asia. The event was inaugurated by Indian Tourism Minister of State K. Chiranjeevi, with the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Nallari Kiran Kumar Reddy honoured as Chief Guest.
The Conference focused on the message that the Asia-Pacific travel and tourism industry now faces the challenge of ensuring that the surge in visitor arrivals globally and specifically in the Asia-Pacific is balanced by commensurate efforts to protect the environmental and cultural heritage on which the industry depends. Heads of national tourism organisations, Chief Executives of a number of private sector organisations, and associations shared a broad diversity of plans, policies and projects that set the scene for the discussion on how sustainable growth through tourism can be best sustained.
In his opening remarks at the meeting, UNWTO Secretary-General Taleb Rifai said that while global visitor arrivals had hit record highs in 2012 – more than one billion international arrivals and 5.5 billion domestic visitors – such growth did not have to be a zero-sum game. Rifai noted that growth and sustainability are part of the same equation and that more growth must mean more preservation. He emphasised that more growth should never be allowed to damage culture, economies and the fabrics of communities, and that the sector must utilise its knowledge base to continually improve the sector and ensure it is developed sustainably.
Chiranjeevi opined that the need of the hour is not tourism growth alone but development of tourism in sustainable manner. He added that the South Asian region has rich and varied tourism products to attract visitors from the world over – with heritage and culture dating back to thousands of years, architectural and natural marvels, an unmatched bio-diversity and a display of almost all the world religions.
He also said that intra-regional and inter-regional cooperation holds the key to the growth of the sector and that the tourism industry, with its established contributions towards economic growth, employment generation and social integration, will have to be made sustainable for drawing the benefits over a longer period of time.
Another point made by the Minister was that the importance of sustainability needs to be communicated throughout the industry. He further added that the endeavour of his Ministry will remain to bring more such international events to India and make the country a leading centre for MICE. According to him, in the year 2012, Asia and the Pacific region saw the highest growth rate – over seven per cent. The sub-region of South East Asia recorded the maximum number of arrivals within these regions with a growth of nine per cent. India was second in terms of international tourism receipts in the region the Indian tourism growth of 5.4 per cent in terms of foreign tourist arrivals was higher than the world average of four per cent.
Conference presentations on tourism and sustainability were made by representatives of several destinations. Other speakers included senior executives of the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA), EATOF (East Asia Inter-Regional Tourism Forum) and Japan Association of Travel Agents. In addition to the meetings, various events were organised to give the visiting delegates a glimpse of the rich culture and cuisine of the country.
