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SUSTAINABLE TOURISM

UPSC CURRENT AFFAIRS | NATIONAL STRATEGY FOR SUSTAINABLE TOURISM AND RESPONSIBLE TRAVELLER CAMPAIGN | 06TH JUNE | PIB

/ June, 2022, UPSC Daily Current Affairs

SYLLABUS SECTION: GS II (Governance)

WHY IN THE NEWS?

  • Recently, the Ministry of Tourism, in partnership with the United Environment Program (UNEP) and the Responsible Sustainable Tourism Society of India (RTSOI) organized National Summit on Developing Sustainable & Responsible Tourist Destinations in New Delhi.
  • The Ministry of Tourism launched the National Strategy for Sustainable Tourism and Responsible Traveller Campaign.
  • To increase private sector investment in tourism and hospitality

KEY HIGHLIGHTS:

  • In the summit the strategic pillars for the development of sustainable tourism have been identified as:
  • Promoting Environmental Sustainability
  • Protecting Biodiversity
  • Promoting Economic Sustainability
  • Promoting Socio-Cultural Sustainability
  • Scheme for Certification of Sustainable Tourism
  • IEC and Capacity Building and Governance.
  • To enhance the skills of local youth in tourism and hospitality

 

  • India will increase its capacity of non-fossil energy capacity to 500 GW and meet 50 percent of its energy requirements through renewable energy by 2030.
  • State tourism policies should recognize sustainability principles and the Sustainable Development Goals in their vision and strategic direction for tourism.
  • Swadesh Darshan 2.0 has been launched.

Swadesh Darshan 2.0

Vision: To develop sustainable and responsible tourism destinations in the country.

Mission: To create a robust framework for integrated development of tourism destinations in partnership with the States/ UTs and local governments for promoting sustainable and responsible tourism in the country.

Objectives: The strategic objectives of the Scheme are:

  • To enhance the contribution of tourism to the local economies
  • To preserve and enhance the local cultural and natural resources
Why Swadesh Darshan 2.0?

The Ministry of Tourism carried out a detailed review of the Scheme and identified the following areas for improvement:

  • Broad basing of Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee
  • To create jobs including self-employment for local communities
  • State-level Institutional Structure for the Scheme
  • Strategic selection of the destinations
  • Detailed benchmarking and gap analysis of destination
  • Focus on both hard and soft Interventions
  • Strengthening of Project Implementation and Monitoring
  • Operations and maintenance on a sustainable basis
  • Promotion & marketing of the destinations
  • Impact Assessment
  • This revamped scheme is a generational shift to evolve Swadesh Darshan Scheme as a holistic mission to develop sustainable and responsible tourism destinations covering tourism and allied infrastructure, tourism services, human capital development, destination management, and promotion backed by policy and institutional reforms.
Swadesh Darshan
  • It is a Central Sector Scheme launched in 2014-15.
  • It was launched by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, for the integrated development of theme-based tourist circuits.
  • The scheme aims to promote, develop and harness the potential of tourism in India.
  • This scheme is envisioned to synergize with other schemes like Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, Skill India, Make in India, etc.
  • The scheme will try to position the tourism sector as a major engine for job creation, the driving force for economic growth, building synergy with various sectors to enable tourism to realize its potential.

 

Source: PIB