Plan to promote ‘green tourism’

Plan to promote ‘green tourism’
Industry Ready For Image Change-over
Preetu Nair | TNN

Panaji: With about 10 fivestar hotels in the state toying with idea of having regular energy audits to promote “green tourism” in the state, the tourism industry in Goa is ready for an image change-over.
The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) is in consultation with the hotels to conduct regular energy audits to measure the daily energy consumption in these hotels. Energy audits are done to measure the energy (power) consumption in hotels to help assess the amount of energy that is consumed and identify means to prevent wastage of energy.
As a first step in ensuring “green tourism” in the state, TERI has approached the five-star hotels, as their power consumption patterns are on the higher side. “Some of them have responded positively and they agree that energy audits are beneficial in terms of not only reducing the impacts on the environment, but also in generating revenue by cost saving,” said associate fellow with TERI Saltanat Kazi.
TERI authorities believe that going green would help in attracting responsible tourists, who are aware and take measures to ensure that they cause minimum impact
on people and environment that they visit.
Besides, they are also proposing TERI’s green building rating system (TERI–GRIHA) to help design and evaluate new “green buildings” in the tourism sector, which would help improve the environment by reducing GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions, improving energy security and reducing the stress on natural resources.
The aim is to promote “green tourism” as a form of sustainable tourism, with focus on environmental sustainability and involves the application of environment friendly practices and technology at both the planning and operational phase to prevent, mitigate and reverse the detrimental environmental impacts. “Green tourism creates a ripple effect as its implications extend to the tourism sector, in the locality, in the tourist’s place of origin. It also encompasses eco-tourism, rural tourism and heritage tourism,” said Kazi.
“This would benefit the tourism industry as there is reduced environmental footprint of the tourism sector, which adopts environmentally and socially friendly attitudes and initiatives. Besides tourist establishments can improve reputation, business and market share,” she added. Tourism’s impact on environmental domains such as ecosystems, beaches, wet lands, mangroves, forests, mountains, coastal and ground water has been a matter of concern for environmentalists in the state. “As a concept, energy audit and green building is a positive sign. But linking it to the concept of “green tourism” is not justified until there is a clear definition of what is green tourism,” said activist working on tourism issues, Roland Martins.

August 19, 2008 The Times of India, Goa edition