India commits to sustainable tourism for economic growth and environmental protection

India is creating a conducive environment for tourism sector to contribute to economic growth, environmental protection and social well-being in a sustainable manner, Union Minister for Culture, Tourism and Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) G Kishan Reddy has said.dressing an event at 'High-Level Political Forum 2023 - UN World Tourism Organization' here at UN hequarters on Friday, he said India is committed to sustainable and green tourism.

“India is actively vancing Sustainable Development Goals through tourism, implementing various activities and strategies,” he said.“India is creating a conducive environment for tourism sector to contribute to economic growth, environmental protection and social wellbeing in a sustainable manner. India is committed to sustainable tourism and green tourism,” he said.

Reddy told session, also dressed by President of 77th session of UN General Assembly Csaba Korosi and President of Economic and Social Council Lachezara Stoeva, that India has launched a national strategy for sustainable tourism.He said re are seven key pillars under strategy which focus on promoting environment, economic and socio-cultural sustainability, protecting biodiversity and creating awareness through skill development and entrepreneurship training.

Reddy said Ministry of Tourism has launched 'Travel for LiFE' programme to promote sustainable tourism in country.According to Ministry of Tourism, programme is developed to bring large-scale behavioural change amongst tourists and tourism businesses, which will have a significant impact on environmental protection and climate action.“ programme holds tremendous significance for promoting India’s G20 priority of Green Tourism under Tourism Working Group,” it said.

Reddy said India is focusing on enhancing connectivity to important tourist destinations. Ministry of Tourism is collaborating with Ministry of Civil Aviation and or ministries in country as a “whole-of-government approach”.He said such initiatives have resulted in operationalisation of tourism routes, facilitating easier access to iconic sites and boosting tourism in those regions.

Reddy said under India’s G20 presidency, five interconnected priority areas in tourism sector have been identified and se are key building blocks for enhancing tourism sector and achieving targets for 2030 SDGs.“ Goa Romap for tourism as a vehicle for achieving Sustainable Development Goals is a pioneering global effort towards developing tourism sector through lens of sustainable development goals,” he said. Goa Romap was endorsed at G20 Tourism Working Group Meeting and Ministerial Meeting held in Goa on June 19-22.

A G20 press release h said that five priorities of romap that will be implemented to achieve sustainable tourism are green tourism, digitalisation, skills, tourism MSMEs and destination management.“A notable feature of G20 Indian presidency 2023 Goa Romap is its commitment to promoting collaboration and engagement to leverage activities to position tourism sector as a leer in collective progress towards SDGs,” Reddy said.

He said in line with digitisation drive, India is leveraging technology to empower hospitality and tourism industry.

All se “comprehensive efforts" by government of India reflects its commitment to vancing Sustainable Development Goals through tourism by focusing on sustainable practices, infrastructure development, enhanced connectivity, green transport and digitalisation, he said.

Earlier, Reddy paid homage to Mahatma Gandhi at UN by offering floral tributes at his bust installed at North Lawn of world body’s hequarters. Gandhi bust is a gift from India to UN and was installed in expansive North Lawn during India’s Presidency of 15-nation UN Security Council in December 2022.On Thursday after his arrival in city, Reddy dressed a community reception organised at Consulate General of India in New York.