Why is Jammu & Kashmir failing to develop ecotourism?

June 1, 2017

A meadow in Bangus Valley, one of the areas identified by the Jammu & Kashmir Forest Department as holding strong ecotourism potential. Source: Wikimedia / Wasiq 9320

The Indi­an state of Jam­mu and Kash­mir (J&K) is allegedly fail­ing to walk the talk when it comes to devel­op­ing its eco­tour­ism poten­tial. “The much-talked-about pro­mo­tion of eco­tour­ism in J&K along the lines of Karnataka and oth­er states of India has remained con­fined to offi­cial state­ments of the PDP-BJP Coali­tion Gov­ern­ment,” accord­ing to a scathing […]

Read More Why is Jammu & Kashmir failing to develop ecotourism?
Posted in "GT" news & events, "GT" news from Asia
Tags: , ,

Are “all-inclusive” tourism packages to blame for locals missing out?

June 1, 2017

Geo Routes Cultural Institute President Giannis Balakakis criticises all-inclusive packages. Source BBSF

Geo Routes Cul­tur­al Insti­tute (GRCI) Pres­id­ent Gian­nis Bal­aka­kis cri­ti­cised what he called “tra­di­tion­al” mass tour­ism mod­els, which for dec­ades were the main­stay of the industry in Greece and oth­er Balkans and Black Sea coun­tries. In many cases these mod­els led to the “all-inclus­ive” phe­nomen­on, which meant loc­al com­munit­ies reaped little or no tour­ism rev­en­ue yet […]

Read More Are “all-inclusive” tourism packages to blame for locals missing out?
Posted in "GT" news & events, "GT" news from Europe
Tags: , ,

Pacific unsurprisingly strong on sustainability rhetoric

June 1, 2017

Sustainable Tourism Development spto

Giv­en that island nations have most to lose from sea level rises, it is no sur­prise that Fran­cois Mar­tel, sec­ret­ary-gen­er­­al of Pacific Islands Devel­op­ment For­um (PIDF) believes that any invest­ment in adapt­a­tion to, and mit­ig­a­tion of, cli­mate change makes sense. PIDF reck­ons the Pacific needs devel­op­ment pro­cesses that are: Respons­ive Par­ti­cip­at­ory Inclus­ive Account­able Out­­­come-driv­en Able to balance […]

Read More Pacific unsurprisingly strong on sustainability rhetoric
Posted in "GT" news & events, "GT" news from Oceania
Tags: , ,

Thompson Okanagan, Canada, seeks “Biosphere” status

May 27, 2017

Thompson Okanagan region, Canada, seeks "Biosphere" status. Source: TOTA

The Thompson Okanagan region in Brit­ish Columbia, Canada is seek­ing the “Bio­sphere Des­tin­a­tion Cer­ti­fic­ate”, which could make it only the 20th des­tin­a­tion in the world to achieve this. Thompson Okanagan Tour­ism Asso­ci­ation (TOTA) Pres­id­ent & CEO Glenn Mandzi­uk has signed a “Let­ter of Com­mit­ment” (LoC) with the Respons­ible Tour­ism Insti­tute (RTI). Sign­ing the LoC with […]

Read More Thompson Okanagan, Canada, seeks “Biosphere” status
Posted in "GT" news & events, "GT" news from the Americas
Tags: ,

Could a primate be driven to extinction by “ecotourism”?

May 26, 2017

Could the endangered red-shanked douc langur ('Pygathrix nemaeus') be pushed to extinction by ecotourism? Source: GreenViet

Sci­ent­ists have warned that an endangered prim­ate may be pushed into extinc­tion by the devel­op­ment of con­crete build­ings for, iron­ic­ally, a “lux­ury eco-tour resort com­plex”. Some 237 herds of red-shanked douc langurs (Pygath­rix nemaeus), com­pris­ing more than 1,300 indi­vidu­als, are liv­ing in the Sơn Trà Nature Reserve in Đà Nẵng, Viet­nam, reports VNS. The Da […]

Read More Could a primate be driven to extinction by “ecotourism”?
Posted in "GT" news & events, "GT" news from Asia
Tags: ,

Apo Island, Philippines to levy new fees on tourists

May 25, 2017

Sea turtle 'pawikan' off the shores of Apo Island. Source: Wikimedia / Jun V Lao

The famed dive des­tin­a­tion of Apo Island in Dauin, Negros Ori­ent­al, Phil­ip­pines, will levy new fees for tour­ists, accord­ing to the Phil­ip­pine News Agency. The fees, agreed upon by the Pro­tec­ted Area Man­age­ment Board (PAMB), would include moor­ing fees for boats used by tour­ists; for diving, swim­ming, snorkel­ing and oth­er activ­it­ies. Jose Bry­an Arranguez, Community […]

Read More Apo Island, Philippines to levy new fees on tourists
Posted in "GT" news & events, "GT" news from Asia
Tags: , , , ,