Ashok Khosla
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The contribution of tourism to economic development is well known and widely appreciated. The question we have to now address is whether the tourism sector can be made more sustainable, to contribute to sustainable national development.

There are many schools of thought on the impacts of tourism. Some people emphasize the enhanced cultural interaction which leads to better global understanding, national integration and cross fertilisation of ideas. Policy makers are particularly attracted by the promise of additional income, foreign exchange and job creation. Others tend to focus on the costs, particularly inflation, induced scarcity, economic vulnerability, loss of cultural identity, social disruption and environmental degradation. To all this, the first group usually responds that any development entails making sacrifices.

The question is development for whom? And, at what cost? We need a new analytical framework to understand the costs and benefits of tourism and the distributional aspects of this sector.

If development is to continue into the future in a reasonably systematic way, it must satisfy four criteria. Firstly, all developmental activities must be efficient. Second, their outputs must be distributed equitably. Third, any activity must be environmentally sound, to be sustainable. And, their outputs must be distributed equitably. Third, any activity must be environmentally sound, to be sustainable. Finally, to achieve these first three “E”s of efficiency, equity and environmental soundness, we need a pattern of development that is endogenous. It must come from within the culture and creative genius of the people themselves.

Properly designed tourism can certainly be a net positive in its impact. But, today it is not properly designed and the costs are high. We are paying too much for the tourist dollar.

A minimum investment of at least two percent of the total tourism revenue should be allocated for research and building research capacity. Even a one percent commitment would provide Rs. 40 crore for research and could yield several hundred crores of additional income.

Tourism can be analysed in many ways. Planners talk about tourism for specific purposes and functions: recreational, educational, cultural, spiritual, ethnic, sports, scientific, adventure, wild life and even industrial. Tourism statistics can be broken down by the origin of tourism - domestic or international, by the ability to spend and by the standards of facilities required.

Looking at the strategies, attention in the tourism sector needs to be given to the issue of total quality management, and, indeed to total environmental quality management. We also have to look at the involvement of the major stake-holder, the touree – the local people – and ensure that the benefits that accrue go to the local communities.

Total quality management forces us to design processes to fulfil functions holistically from the point of view of the customer. At the moment the tourist is consigned to the kind of fate to which we consign all others. “It is not our problem”. But in total quality management everything becomes our problem.

We also have to improve the resilience of the tourism sector. We have paid a huge cost in our country for the seasonality or other fluctuations in our tourism. The people who work and should benefit from tourism. The people who work and should benefit from tourism. The people who work and should benefit from tourism, namely the tourees often work for no more than four months a year.

Perhaps we now need to set up a Czar for tourism, or an Ombudsman. To take meaningful corrective action he or she must have quasi-judicial powers and be able to enforce implementation of better standards.

The people in the host communities have to learn to accept local control and therefore local responsibility for the tourists. The private sectors’ job is to establish and operate tourist facilities, to comply with the regulations that are set for them. Independent organisations like NGOs, consumer protection organisations and other voluntary agencies are crucial but need to be supported by the government to be able to serve watch-dog functions.

The government’s job is to regulate, not to do. It has the responsibility to protect the interests of local people, of natural and cultural heritage, of the trees, animals and natural resources and of tourees. It should also provide training and support for research, monitoring and evaluation of tourist facilities.  ☼

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