Consider this: According to estimates , each lion is worth US$ 27,000 and each elephant herd US$ 610,000, in a national park in Kenya, in terms of visitor revenues per year. Also, each hectare of the park is estimated to yield 50 times more than the net profits expected from the land, were it used agriculturally. Now if that doesn?t sound like a good investment opportunity, what does?
Encouraged by findings like these, Yes Bank, on a mandate from the Inter State Council, Ministry of Home Affairs, is trying to develop standards and institutional mechanisms for guidelines, certification and assessment of eco tourism ventures in India. Growing concern with issues of sustainable economic development in the context of India?s vulnerability to the adverse impacts of climate change has directed greater attention to greener alternatives. ?Alternate tourism makes perhaps one of the strongest cases for sustainable development,? says Tushar Pandey, country head, Strategic Initiatives?Government (SIG) at YES Bank. An important step indeed, given the wide gamut of eco tourism, which includes rural, adventure, nature, farm, ethnic and religious tourism.
Over the last four years, at least 48 countries, from Puerto Rico to Portugal, have defined a national strategy for eco-tourism development, according to a report by Mintel International Group, a market-research company based in Britain. The Ministry of Tourism in India is also following the agenda quite aggressively. ?We are focusing on wildlife and rural tourism to begin with. India?s strength lies in these domains. About 20 mega projects have been sanctioned all over the country?an eco circuit in Vidarbha has been identified, and we are ready to spend up to Rs 50 crore to develop it,? says Leena Nandan, joint secretary, Ministry of Tourism.
Given the high revenue-capital ratio of the tourism sector, the potential is indeed huge: every million additional visitors can translate into Rs 43 billion of revenue generation for the industry; every additional investment of Rs 1 million has the potential to generate 47 jobs and every direct job created leads to creation of 11 indirect jobs. World Travel and Tourism Council estimates that the demand for Indian tourism will grow at close to 9% during the next decade, which is one of the highest in the world.
However eco tourism doesn?t hold a large share of the revenue pie yet. ?It is a new trend. Presently its share is close to 5%, but in a couple of years it should touch 20%. We are marketing it aggressively,? says Vijay Thakur, president, Indian Association of Tour Operators.
Possibly, if the bottlenecks are taken care of. ?In Ranthambore, the volume of vehicles allowed at a single time in the park to view tigers is significantly high in comparison to national parks and private game reserves in Africa. The knowledge and training levels of rangers is also poor,? says Richa Goyal Sikri, director ? Group Business Development, STIC Travels.
The hospitality industry is also gearing up for the same. An eco retreat no longer conjures up visions of a frugal, ascetic hilly accommodation. Boutique properties are entering the domain. Our Native Village, for instance, claims to be the first 100% lifestyle eco resort in the country. Situated 40 km from Bangalore, it generates its own electricity, harvests rainwater, recycles waste and even has the country?s first natural swimming pool. It doesn?t use chemicals like chlorine for water purification. Instead it uses a range of aquatic plants in a special regeneration pool, and the water is continuously pumped through to keep it oxygenated and clean. This, probably, also is the only place in the world that gives you a bullock cart license. However the resort, operational for the past two years, despite being on a hybrid ecosystem, is yet to get the 50% subsidy on the capital expenditure from the government that it is entitled to. C B Ramkumar attests to the cost benefits of creating an eco property despite the investment differential. He says: ?If I opted to get the electricity lines to the resort, it would have cost me just Rs 15 lakh. The alternate model cost me Rs 70 lakh. Similarly, a conventional swimming pool would have cost just Rs 12 lakh?the natural one cost me Rs 22 lakh?.? He estimates that, in comparison to a conventional model, it might take him two to three years more to break-even. It?s rather simple, he says: ?The high installation costs are offset by the low running costs.? Marketing advantages aside, think of a situation when the hotels will be able to pass on the savings to the consumer! Presently Ramkumar gets 70% of his business from corporates and one of his team building exercises is particularly popular with them ? Gulli-danda tournament.
When Manoj Kulshrestra decided to open the Wild Brook Retreat in Uttaranchal, he was clear about one thing: ?The venture had to be in harmony with the surrounding areas and not stand out as an eye sore?. Yatish C Sud, MD of The Chalets, Naldehra agrees with him. He made sure ?no trees were cut down during the property?s construction, and that the units were built along the slopes of the hills to maintain the natural contours of the land.? But understanding well that the discerning traveller demands luxury, he decided to incorporate a spa, ayurvedic treatments etc in his quaint pine wood huts. The 18-hole Naldehra golf course, 300m away, is an added attraction.
Most travellers demand basic luxury. One thing freelance stylist, Smriti Mukherji missed while vacationing at Devdar Woods in Landour was a TV. ?I loved the place every bit… but I just didn?t know how to kill time in the evenings,? she says.
However, the industry is definitely upbeat about it. ?We need to look at eco-tourism as a strategy for economic growth. Soon the time will come when more and more people would prefer eco tourism,? feels Arjun Sharma, MD, Le Passage to India.