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invite Network members to contribute to the Network letter

by sharing their work Ideas and plans through these pages:'
NEWS Communication is vital to the Irle ofa Network especia/~v when
ROUNDUP physical d':'itances cannot easily be brtdgedby dO_fer COnfacts_

Consultation on the New Tourism Policy in India, New Delhi. Resources

A 2-day Consultation was organised by EQUATIONS in collaboration
with Delhi Forum and INTACH (Tourism & Heritage section) on 11-
12 January 1992 to discuss the emerging trends in tourism policy
in the light of the newly iiberalised economic policies being pursued
in India. Participants included a variety of individuals and organisa­
tions from Delhi, and resource persons from a number of tourist areas
in India. The consultation came out with recommendations in 3 areas:
Networking, Alternatives to Tourism and Alternatives in Tourism.
Report is available from EQUAnONS.
Implications of Karnataka's Tourism Policy, Bangalore.
Organised by EQUATIONS, on November 30, 1991, the meeting
sought to focus on KarnataKa's planned tourism deve:opments in
relation to the national tourism policy. Presentations were made by
Dr. Duarte Baretto, Leo Saldanha and Joseiyn Lobo, apart from those
by Equations. An attempt was made to charter a broad based plan
Penang Hill: The need to save our Naturai Heritage, Martin Khor
Kok Peng et ai, Friends of Penang Hill, c/o. Consumers' Association
of Penang (Secretariat) Jalan Cantonment 10250 Penang, Malaysia,
1991. ISBN: 967 - 9950 - 61-1, pp. 150.
A critique of the proposed development plan In Penang Hill, this book
examines its special characteristics. It aiso outlines the principles for
any future development on the Hi!1. A critique of the Beriaya project
plan from the aspects of planning and procedure, environment and
cost-benefit analysis is detailed. An alternative plan is also proposed,
covering aspects SUdl as conservation, access etc.
Tourism: Environment and Development Perspectives, Peter Mason,
World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), United Kingdom 1990, ISBN:
0947613 17K, pp. 112.
Aimed primarily at students involved in courses with a tourism
dimension, this book looks at topics such as, people as visitors and
ALTERNATIVE NETWORK LETTER
A Third World Tourism Critique
For Private Circulation Only
THE CHOICE OF REASON
NOTHING will he the same anymore, bemoan the mourners of
Indian socialism's soon-to-be-forgotten demise. The IMF and
World Bank, we are dajl.y intonned, are the vanguard of a new
invasion, this time an economic one, fought with the armoury
I structural adjustment policies (SAP), although at the end of
~hat stick dangles the carrot of free enterprise
and economic liberalisation.
.~:(,
All issues of current concern arc today conven­
Vol 7 No. 3 February 1992
majority of our people. Therefol'e, the need to act and respond
is greater today than ever before. The space within which people
can act, respond and articulate genuine concerns will also
undouhtedly reduce, if we are to learn from lessons elsewhere
in the Third World. And tourism, as part of the all-important
service sector of the 'new economy', will continue
to expand and exploit.
.
But for us to be able to respond adequately

of local action by concerned peopie from the proposals that emerged hosts, land-use conflict, environmental impact, and the North/South iently laid at the doorstep ofthe global economic
and intelligently, we must move away from the
during the discussions. divide. Examples of 'Alternative Tourism' and ideas about education monster; bonded labour, deforestation, eco-de­ emerging world view that the problem is exter­

for future travel is also presented. Case studies on Bali, Turkey, the struction, tribals, women, tourism, children,
nal, sinco such a view is precisely being pro­

Norfolk Broads, and the exploitation of women in Southeast Asia, acculturation, N-encrgy, what have you. Blame
pounded by reactionary politicians today in
Third World Tourism and Dakshina Kannada, Manga\ore. the multinationals, point a finger at the US order to take the focus away from the me5S
A seminar was organised by YANA, a group based in Mangalore, together with a variety of maps, graphs, and newspaper extracts,
hegemony over the UN, say no to the Japanese within.
on 15, September 1991. EQUATIONS made presentations on "Global provide students with discussion material.
yen. This is the theme of our ill-begotten times. S dl h d f h' . . h .
Tourism and India's Tourism Policy" and "Tourism Plans and Projects econ y, t e anger 0 t IS VIew IS t at It sees
The Economic Effects of Tourism in Goa, with a micro-study on Although thore is nothing essentially incorrect people in a limited perspective: as victims,
of Karnataka". Other topics addressed were on 'Beach Tourism', employment in the hotel sector, Harm Zebregs, Tifburg, September in this line of reasoning, it is limited in certain rather than as arbiters of their own future.
'T ourism Plans in Dakshina Kannada' and on the 'People's Resistance 1991, pp. 90. important respects. Primary is the question of And since they are seen as victims, there must
in Goa'. Participants were drawn from a wide spectrum of interests, This thesis studies the development of tourism in Third World responsibility and accountability. Why, for ex- necessarily emerge a class of saviours - per­
representing NGOs, management and social work institutes, countries and examines the economic effects of tourism in the state ample, is the 'monster' seen only as being 'out haps ourselves.
researchers, educationists and other concerned individuals. of Goa, India. It also includes an analysiS of the economic benefits there'? Why are all the factors external to our "
and costs of tourism. Two reports are discussed, which have studied milieu? What about our responsibility in hav- WIth .all the nOIse of IMF'tWB diktats sur­
Conference on The Rights of the Child, Calcutta. ing allowed matters to have come to t'his pass? ro:mdmg us now, we mus~ focus once agai? on
the macro economic effects of the tourist sector in Goa.
What is it within us - as a society that we stIll unresolv?d struc.tural. Issue~: land ~e!atlO?S;
The Conference, held between 21 st - 24th November 1991, focussed
TOE-DOC, No. 3, Tourism, Development and Environment Project, so easily fall prey to the machinations of gov- .,t, lo~al ~nd regional eht~s) .mclud~ng rel~gIous m­
on the 'Role of NGOs in implementing the UN Convention on Rights "nments and institutions far removed from ~-..:-,-.,..-. . stItutlOns; the dram~tlC nse ofr:gh~-wmg forces
of the Child, with participants from 5 South Asian nations. It exam­ ECTWT, P.o. Box 24, Chorakhebua, Bangkok 10230, Jan 1991. 7(1
.? under a vanety of garbs; and the growmg centrahsatIOn of power
ined existing laws, levels of implementation as also the efficacy of pp. """ and authority within our country.
such executive action. K. T. Suresh, representing both EQUATIONS The first part of this edition of TOE-DOC, "Tourism Trends", bigh­ Undoubtedly, the new economic policies and priorities being fol­
lights the plans and programs for the Visit ASEAN Year 1992, while lowed by our government - under possible international pres­ That is the choice we are faced with, and the reasons are clear.
and ECPAT, made a presentation (co-authored with Rico Noronha) Moral indignation is an insufficient response to social injustice.
on the growing nexus between tourism and child prostitution, fo­ the "Golf Course and Resort Monitor" focusses on the impact of golf sures - will bring greater marginalisation and suffering for the
cussing on the Freddy Peat case in Goa. courses and mega-resort-projects in Malaysia. The last part "Towards Paul Gonsalves
Sustainable Tourism" deals with the pros and cons of "eco-tourism",
illustrating two examples of environmental management in Nepal and
AII·lndia Consultation of Tourism in India, Goa.
A 6-day consultation was organised by the Labour Commission of Thailand. No home on the range
the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) and the Archdiocese /Visit India Year' and 'Visit Indonesia Year', A comparative Namita Khanna
of Goa on "The Human Cost in Modern Tourism - A Challenge to study of Imagery, Anne Badger, Roehampton Institute of Higher
all Religions". It called for a greater say to the people at the Education, England, 1991 86 pp. like Mir Ali, the 512 Gujjar families who have lived for centuries elephants in north India, is to be declared a full-fledged national park,
grassroots level in determining the criteria that is acceptable to them. 1991 being both 'Visit India Year' and 'Visit Indonesia Year', the in the forests near Dehra Dun are understandably nervous about the Gujjars and their cattle will have to move out. Once a part of
,. . . . ..' .
Our new contact numbers:
Phone 812-S82313
1
.... author has chosen to examine the imagery of both promotional
campaigns. The deciSion to hold a tourism year is analysed in a
historical and global context with reference to colonialism and issues
being asked to move out to a spanking new concrete colony built
for them near the city of God, Haridwar. And who can biame them?
Where will they keep their cattle? What of their outstanding debts
Jammu princess's dowry, the Gujjars and their cattle pose a threat
to the wildlife in the park, argue forest officials. Then there is the
problem of overgrazing. But the Gujiars have been fighting to stay
_ ~ax ~12:58~~~7...~~~ ?20~ , '" of national identity. It also highligr!!s how t~e ,images used, in both to the loca! traders in Dehra Dun district? And, most important, how on since the mid-Ei9hties when they obtained a stay from the
I el1.:Ht u84;>MUtlVU c~"'" III (Ado v(7) ) promotional campaigns reflect tne dllterent ana otten OppOSlllg Interests will lil8y iive in a Gity and wi lcil wlil happerl [0 their Olc.l WCt.y o[ lire 7 Supreme Court. Following dirpr:tivps frnm lhl? mllrt. thp, Utt::Jr
Cable EQUATIONS BANGALORE of those involved and the inequalities of their power and influence. Pradesh government built the coiony whictl mciud'::ls a school and
If the proposed Rajaji National Park, comprising the Chilla, Rajaji community hall at a cost of Rs 2.87 crores in Haridwar district. In
and Motichur sanctuaries and home to the largest population of
988, the Supreme Court dismissed the petition of the Gujjars, but
Published by; Equitable Tourism Options (EQUATIONS), 168, 8th Main Road, Near Indiranagar Club, Bangalore-560 008. INDIA.
Design and Typesetting: Emerald Advertising, No. 41142. Jewellers Street, Off. Commercial Street, Bangalore-560 001.
by then local politicians with an eye on the potential vote-bank had
got into the act. The Gujjars were persuaded to stick on.
tion, and safeguarding the valuable acquifers that exist along the
Like the Gujjars, the elephants have been locked into the national
park. While the elephant population is on the rise, the fragmentation
of habitat with the growth of cities and townships means that the
pachyderms are no longer free to roam around northern India in
search of fodder and water. Desperate for food and made ill­
tempered by the restricted space, the elephants have begun marauding
villages and fields in search of fodder.
The elephants could be free to move about again if the Uttar Pradesh
government speeds up work on the creation of two corridors through
which the elephants could move in and out of Motichur, Chilla and
further to the Kansrao and Lansdowne forests.
For centuries, people have lived in forests without disturbing the
ecological balance. Many tribal cultures have evolved religions and
lifestyles based on animalistic and naturalistic traditions. The natural
resources of the forest have served the tribals well, and on their part
the tribals have not exploited these resources. But the growth in
population and the simultaneous rise of cities and townships have
been at the cost of our forests.
Poor as they are, the Gujjars have so far not fallen into the clutches
of unscrupulous timber merchants. But in Haldwani, the villagers
have learnt long ago that it is far more lucrative to cut a tree and
sell it to timber merchants from Bombay and Delhi than slog it out
in the fields for Rs 30 often less, a day.
Forest officals complain that they simply do not have the means
to throw the book at the timber mafia operating in Haldwani.
Rangers have neither guns nor wireless sets. Nor do they have the
power to confiscate vehicles as is done in Karnataka. According to
the Indian Forest Act 1927, timber poachers are let off after paying
a fine of 20 times the value of the wood apprehended. "We can only
slap on a fine, which is always paid in hard cash. Chances are
that within a month we will catch the same gang taking wood out
in the same truck" bemoans an official.
the record, forest officials also claim that there is a nexus
between the timber mafia and the police, timber mafia and politicians
and the timber mafia and forest officials. Rumour has it that postings
in such police chowkies as Rehar thana in Bijnor distict where timber
poaching is rampant, don't come cheap and the police is willing to
cough up substantial amounts of money to get these plum postings,
as they are confident they wiil soon recover their initial 'investment'.
Politicians too are chary of getting on the wrong side of the timber
mafia, which has proved to be extremely generous during election
Haldwani, which comes under the Nainital constituency, has
been the hunting ground of such stalwarts as the former Uttar
Pradesh chief minister, Narain Dutt Tiwari. And even he has been
or unwilling, to stem the rot.
It is more difficult to prove a collusion between forest officials and
timber poachers. Officials young and idealistic, or foolish enough
to apprehend poachers and try and put an end to the illegal practice,
have learnt the hard way that it is perhaps better to em ulate the
three monkeys in the popular story that saw, heard and spoke no
movement, unless we recognise the right of animals to live and roam
evil.
freely in sanctuaries and national parks, we are going to rapidly be
Given that in most cases they are helpless to stop timber poaching,
converted into a wasteland. No amount of legislation is going to
it is not surprising that some forest officals resigned to the system
stop the slide downward, but, perhaps, it is still not too late.
will accept an inam for looking the other way. The stakes are
high enough for the timber poachers to be generous with obliging
- SUNDAY 3·9 NOVEMBER, 1991.
2 15
officials.
The pahadi villages are inhabitated mainly by women, children and
old men. The breadwinners have moved to big cities in search of
lucrative jobs, often working as domestic servants and sending their
meagre savings back home. During the winter months it is not
uncommon for pahadis to migrate temporarily to the plains from
the less hospitable hills. In Haldwani, the pahadis would spread over
the Bindukheda region, setting up temporary homes in the forest.
In 1977 the UP Government decided that it might be better to
earmark some 20 hectares of land specifically for the winter abode
of the pahadis rather than have them spread all over the forest. By
1991 these 20 hectares have expanded to 3,500 hectares and this
temporary shelter has grown into a mini-township. Burnt tree stumps
seem to be the only pointer to the forest that once existed at
Bindukheda.
No government or politician with a desire to continue in power is
going to dislodge the encroachers. Whlle some 2,700 cases have
been registered against various illegal occupants, the courts have
passed orders of eviction against 1,600 of them.
But for the demoralised forest staff the biggest threats are often
posed from within. As with most bureaucratic services, the Indian
Forest Service is ridden with factionalism and favouritism. Then
there is the problem of weeding out inefficient and corrupt staff, no
easy task in the government as Anand Singh Negi, field director of
Project Tiger at Corbett National Park, has found out. As the first
national park in the country and one constantly in the limelight,
poaching is more or less curtailed in Corbett. If at all there is an
ideal national park in the country, Corbett comes close to fittina the
bill. Timber poaching is more or less at a standstill.
The real problem posed to Corbett is the continued existence of a
colony built originally to house irrigation staff working on the construction
of the Kalagarh dam on the Ramganga river which runs through the
park.
The forests of Uttar Pradesh, particularly the Terai belt, have become
grounds for terrorists from adjoining Punjab. Much of the
illegal activity, from illegal timber felling to ganja making, is currently
being carried out in the name of the terrorists.
The Wildlife (protection) Amendment Bill, 1991, moved by Ministpr
of state of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Kamal Nctl
aims to broaden the scope and outlook of the previous act. The new
act, passed by both houses during the last parliamentary session
covers not only animals and birds, but. for the first time. rare and
endangered plants as well.
But the main problem remains: that of creating an awareness of the
importance of forests and of maintaining an ecological balance. It
is not enough to merely pay lip service to the environment and make
children learn poems about the importance of planting trees. Across
the board, from magistrates to architects, from legislators to bureaucrats,
the message has got to be hammered home that unless human
encroachments are dealt with humanely but firmly, unless tree felling
is stopped both by punitive action and the creation of a social
has been enveloping village after village and very substantial changes
have taken place in the economic, social and physical structures in
these areas. The Tamil Nadu government's efforts had three objec­
tives: preservation of scenic beauty, development of water front
recreation possibilities without causing land, water or marine
O~ik~U~{.~
M. K. Chandra Bose
Away from the din and bustle of Madras city lies the enchanting
beach resort of Mamallapuram dotted with monuments which are
the finest examples of Pallava architecture. Tourists come in droves
from all over the world round the year to this spot, considered one
of the centres of world heritage. One of the best beaches in the
world, the 56 km long Madras-Mamallapuram coastline offers great
potential for multifarious growth. It is a 10 km wide belt between
the Bay of Bengal and the Buckingham Canal with a population of
1,65,000 inhabiting 69 villages.
How to ensure development of the area for the optimllm realisation
of tourism potential without leaving any scars on the environment
has been a major challenge for the planners. Their task is all the
more difficult as the area is environmentally fragile and the devel­
opment hitherto haphazard. Right from 1972, the Tamil Nadu govern­
ment initiated several measures to regulate developments along the
coast. But lack of enforcement of various legislative measures
against the haphazard development on the coastline has nullified
the government efforts.
In this respect, the notification of the Union government on July 27
last year in regard to regulation of development along coastal
stretches of India was a landmark. Meanwhile, the ministry of
environment and forests initiated project studies for specific coastal
stretches. The task of formulating an environment management plan
for the Madras-Mamallapuram coast was entrusted to the centre for
Symbiosis of Technology, Environment and Management (STEM).
The project report prepared by a 17 member team of experts led
by Prof, B. Bhaskara Rao, the prinCipal investigator and submitted
to the government in January last says it is intended to reflect what
actually should go into planning of developmental projects commen­
surate with environmental sustainability. The plan is evolved in the
hope that it may be useful for establishing an analytical process for
decision makers and implementing agencies.
The evergrowng metropolis of Madras has cast its shadow on the
predominantly rural coastal stretch. In the North,the pressure of urban
growth are increasingly felt while from the South, where the Kal­
pakkam atomic plant is located similar pressures are in the offing.
','he study points out that pressure on land for urban use and water
to supplement the growing water and land requirements of the city's
increasing population are leading to unregulated and imbalanced
development and pollution of natural resources. Builders and land
developers are invading the canal and backwater zone, besides the
beach. Reclamation and conversion of land for urban use are widely
resorted to. Consequently, the inherent unity in the drainage network
and the water bodies is disturbed.
Being in the hinterland of Madras city, the agricultural production
pattern of the area would be determined by the demands of the
metropolis. The study foresees that the crop pattern will gradually
change to cash crops, market gardening and horticulture. In this
connection, the diminishing income from fishing and traditional farming
and the dwindling of the area under agriculture are significant.
According to the report, urban expansion, mostly in the private sector,
coastal stretch.
The scenic and archaeological importance' of the stretch attracts
significant tourist traffic. Various kinds of recreational facilities have
come up along the coast to meet the needs of the tourist influx such
as hotel complexes, beach cottages, and the snake and crocodile
farms. This has brought in 3 chain reaction giving a boost to the
commercial activities all along the route.
Though tourism is proposed to be expanded to bring prosperity to
the area and also to earn valuable foreign exchange, the question
is that of the capacity of environment to take up the load without
being adversely affected. Now, on normal days about 3,000 tourists
visit the place. On holidays, the number goes up to about 9,000.
The experience of Mahableshwar, Goa and other tourist centres
shows that overcrowding destroys the tranquilty and the recreational
quality of the resort. The large water body comprising the back water
has the potential for being developed into a sanctuary for birds. This
water body is slowly being filled with building debris from Madras.
The STEM study says that the over exploitation of ground water of
the coastal stretch may lead to water shortage in the area and warns
of severe drought if the practice is not checked. It suggests a well
planned water management strategy to avert such a situation. The
area is rich in acquiters providing excellent drinking water. Since the
existing level of ground water may not be sufficient even to meet
the growing demands of tourists, the study calls for drastic reduction
in the withdrawal of water to meet the needs of Madras. Besides,
the over-exploitation of ground water will lead to the intrusion of
saline water into the acquifers.
The report finds that the piOblem of pollution in the Madras­
Mamallapuram coastal stretch is largely that of water and land
Unhygenic methods of waste disposal and industrial efflu­
ents contribute to the problem. An integrated drainage system and
more scientific methods of waste disposal are suggested as the
remedy. The study recommends stricter enforcement of guidelines
on development, keeping in view the local needs and the creation
of nodal agencies for the purpose.
- Illustrated Weekly of India 14·20 December, 1991.
 Thailand's Casino Bet
which will contribute to the earning of foreign exchange
idea of setting up a casino in Thailand has been talked about
fOi many years and promoted by gamblers and politicians who claim
that the country has lost a huge :3mount of money by passing up
the idea. !t has been asserted that every year, Thai citi78ns t8ke
B 11,52 billion out of the country for gaml;ling. But strong OOr.lOSltlon
from many quarters has always nipped any t~ians in the bUG
lega! casino gambling may be a
Thai entrepreneurs and other parties whose identities have not
been disclosed stand to
It has been hinted from time to time that Thai businessmen
to open casinos along the Lootian
border and the Burmese border. Severai such attempts
idea into a reality are now underway, with the most likely candidate
for success a project located on a Burmese island In the Golden
Triangle owned by a Suphan Buri businessman with connectlons to
the Chat Thai party. Prasit 8hodisuthon, president of Vitavas Inter­
national Company, will neither admit nor deny that a casino will be
set up in his company's Golden Triangle Paradise Resort. Mr Prasit
is wary that publicity willi attract criticism. Already, even the vague
reports of the project inspired Australian police to warn last year
that a casino could easily serve as a money laundering center and
forward base for drug traffickers in the notorious Golden Triangle.
Sources within the Golden Triangle and other evidence confirm that
a casino will be built on the Burmese island site. Even jf it had
the will to do so, there is nothing the Thai government can do about
the project but keep an eye on it.
Press reports say the contract was signed at the site in December
of that year by the Burmese Commerce Minister David Abel, and
Mr Prasit on behalf of a group of Thai businessmen. Also in
attendance, these accounts say, were Chiang Rai governor Banasith
Salabsaeng, and then-deputy foreign minister Prapas Limpabandhu,
who also served as a witness,
The company has leased almost 3,000 rai for a 30-years period from
the Burmese government. The site will house a 300 room hotel, a
business and trading complex, an 18-hole golf course, a shopping
center, a helicopter pad, a hovercraft dock, gardens, an arena and
a hospital.
What attracts particLlar attention is that Mr Prasit is confident that
the hotel can be opened for service by end of this year, or early
next year at the latest.
"The rental fee for the concession area is US $30 million for a
30 year period, and the company has to pay tax to the Burmese
government when the project starts producing income", Mr Prasit
conferences.
reveals. But because this is a 100-percent foreign- owned invest­
Provision will also be made for parking cars, restaurants, rest places,
ment, the government reduces the tax by half to only 15 percent.
picnic spots, parks and recreational facilities, Craft centres, shopping
The project will also enjoy a tax holiday for its first eight years"
comp:exes and an amphitheatre are also planned.
Mr Prasit says that the total investment cost for this project is about
All these facilities will be set up at a distance ot at least 4 km from
83 billion and the entire project should be cornpleted in 1995. He
brags that the terms of tile contract make the 3000-rai site his virtual
fi~fdQ!')1, where his word is fiat. High-r::ml-i,
,'adiiJs h}fil the f1IOiil.dTlents ~vill be disailowed so as tc ITlaintain the
said to be very enthusiastic about the
ecological balance of the project area.
followed the progress of construction.
14
It was the Burmese government that asked permission from the Thai
Interior Ministry to open a temprary check point at Ban Wang lao to
construction materials to the project site in Burina. The
Interior Ministry approved the opening for two years, ending in 1993.
It is not yet known what kind of approvals vvill be needed for travellers
when the resort ·opens.
Another indication ihal ~l;lfmrt smiles on the prOject is the contractuai
clause that tnat ilO concessicns will be granted tor construction
li1ilhin a 100-mile radius for the ~eriod the
Mr. !'ras:i that t'i8 first made \I;!ith Burmese offcials
when he applied for :;onc8ssion under nnrne f"ric.lencilai
Suphan Buri Company. It had been reported that YO: the
was to come from 8urma's irVe,:;Tment Cornr(jis~J'On.
according to Prasit this venture With a
Japanese company whOSe name ;·18 declined tu revBal.
Other SOiJrces suggest that Mr. Plasit has received funding from
several sources, includinf.l the qambling kingpins of Mac8u, who
intend to hedge their bets wilen the Portuguese enclave is returned
to China in eight years time. Mr. Prasit declined to discuss this.
To minimize any possible adverse effects on the Burmese monetary
systems, visitors to the resort will only be allowed to use currencies
other than the Burmese Kyat. As for security concerns, Mr. Prasit
says he will set up a team of one Of two hundred guards. "It wiil
be like a task force," he says.
Some Chiang Rai residents are hopefui that the project will benefit
the tourism industry in the province, which is already well-known for
its natura! beauty and serenity,
"Villagers here are pleased to hear about this project," says Phariot
Moraha, the kamnan of Wiang sub-district, Chiang Saen district.
"They don't think that the project will lure them into something bad.
They think in terms of economics. Villagers normally don't have
money to gamble in the casino. Casino players must have
hundreds of thousands of baht to play."
ThirdGJQba~:C:~n9r~ss. Honolulu.. ''., ". ' , .,>
About SO~d"~ptelft()m,.~~countrlesmetduring Noyemb~r<;
. 3~8. 1991)tQr:ff1e~~()fni~HQpd$ tor.Quanty Tqudsm"CQJ)gre~s .
OtfleritagelnteiprefCltion Inter~tiOnQt A ~ocurru!mtterm~
'TheHon()fUt~;~rter'1 e'nclofslngtherOles'· of herlt(Jgeil'lt.,r~
pretotiOI'\~~J!)re"'lVatlonJn qUOlltytouri$mex~rjenot$.·'·
.' was drotteClbYtl1e <;ongre$sond is belngtronlmitte,dtothe •.
United Natl9n$with (ff"flliit ot 5ignatQiies~ . ..
The Power of Images: Matkefing Tourism in the
Adith Kumar owns a hotel on Light House Road, just off Hawah
1990's London.
Beach. He said, "In mid-1989, the State Government clamped down
This 2-day conference to be held in Roehampton, on J,and 4
on the unauthorised encroachement of the beach and a demolition
September 1992 involves key personnel from tourism busi.
squad arrived on the site. But, alas, politics got the best of sanity
ness cmdeducotion considering issues affecting the future of
and the hutment owners, through the local MLA, who was then a
marketing tourism. It is intended for all those involved in
tourism/leisure - lecturers, tour operators, tourism boards;
NGOs. studonts etc. For further Information contact: Or. John
Eode, D!gbV Stuart Collegs, RCGhompton :nstltute,Roehamp­
effect.
ton Lone. LondonSW 15 SPH. Tel: 081·876·8273.
According to Kumar, tile demolition would not hlil1 anyone, He s'aid,
~~IIjut4 E~
Vaijayanti Kulkarni
world famous AJanta and Ellora caves will soon have a new
look. Thanks to the Japanese government which has extended its
cooperation to preserve this ancient monument
Buddhism has tor long been practised in Japan. This may be the
raRson why a Japanese institution has come forward to conserve
tnese monuments which beautifully depict scenes from the life of
Buddha. Trle Ajanta caves are renowned for their mural paintings.
The C3ves (200 BC to AD 700) are endowed with beautiful wall
paintings, a perfect specimen of Indian art.
Though unique, the Ajanta-Ellora caves do not attract as many
foreign tourists as some other popular destinations in India, such as
TaJ Mahal in Agra or the beaches of Goa. This is mainly because
the government of India has always concentrated on the northern
Golden Triangle. Another reason being the poor infrastructural
1cilities available at Aurangabad.
However, a large number of domestic tourists visit these caves,
which are not yet surrounded by unhealthy commercial activities. But
with the ravages of time and tourism, they are in danger of being
lost forever. Smoke, dust and the centuries old preservative coats
have obscured some of the Ajanta paintings. The necessity
to preserve these caves and upgrade their surrounding was felt to
ensure that the great heritage is properly preserved and the tourists
experience is more aesthetic.
With this thought, Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation
has prepared a project report to implement the conservation of these
monuments. The state government has given the green signal for
this ambitious project.
The package for development includes conservation of Ajanta and
Ellora caves by modern chemical treatment to prevent deterioration
and help preserve and enrich the environment of the region through
massive afforestation. Also on the anvil is a plan for the all round
development of the surrounding countryside through better railway
network, better and wider black-topped roads, improved water supply
~nd sewerage, supply of electricity, modern eiectronic telephone
;changes and telex services. The project also envisages the setting
up of reception centres for visitors and provision of allied facilities
such as landscaping, battery-operated car coaches and shuttles to
reduce pollution, training courses for guides and computerised
management of tourists arrival, stay and departures.
The facilities will also include a
standard. An institute for study of rock-cut caves and sculptures will
also be set up. Besides, there will be meditation centres, viharas
and facilities for scholars and hails to hold lectures, seminars and
the Ajanta caves so as not to disturb the tranquility and serenity
of the monument. Industrial and other activities within specified
A light and sound show at the famous fort of Daulatabad will also
be introduced. The proj8ct is expected to give a massive thrust to
3
for the country. It will also augument the development of the
economy in this area. The project is expected tb add to the employment
potential for local youths and will give boost to the local arts and
crafts such as Paithani sarees, Himroo shawls, Bidri works and the
like.
The total cost for this project which will be executed in two phases
works out to Rs. 195.614 crore. Or the total cost, the state
government w:11 share Rs. ~ 39.73 crore, the centre will contribute
Rs. 32.88 crore anc the private sector Rs, 23 crore.
For the first phase of the project which will commence in 1 the
Overseas Economic Cooperabon Fund (OECF) of Japan has
an outlay of Rs. 75.658 crare by way of soft loan of
yens carrying a nominai interest rate of 2.6 percent to be refunded
over a period of 30 years, including a moratorium of 10 years.
The loan will be advanced by OECF under bilateral agreement to
be entered with the Government of India ~nder the aegis of Aid
India Consortium, comprising 13 advanced countries and international
financing organisations, which recentiy announced in Paris a loan of
$6.7 billion for various development projects in India including the
Ajanta-E lora Tourism Development Project
The outlay for the second phase of the project which will commence
in 1994 is about Rs. 120 crore. The total outlay of the state
government for the first and second phases of the project during
eight five-year plan period will be Rs. 102.85 crore, The remaining
expenditure of Rs. 36.88 crore will be provided in the ninth five-year
plan. The project is expected to be completed by 1998.
- The Independent (Bombay) 14 October, 1991
PARADISE LOST
Sally Mathew
If Chester Bowles ever had Mahabali's 'granted wish' and could
return to Kovalam today, there wouldn't be any "athapoovu" or
'nirapara' to greet him. Instead, he would see hundreds of vendors
and stray dogs! The 'paradise on earth' that Bowles found on the
sands of Kovalam beach is going fast and so is the beach
itself, taking the tourists with it!
Hawah Beach, the gOO-metre stretch between Vizhinjam lighthouse
and Sea Rock Beach, was once a sparkling sandy beach with the
lighthouse point and sunset rocks serving as a beguiling backdrop.
That beach does not exist anymore. In its prace is a gOO-metre row
of rickety and unsightly huts housing over 24 restaurants and 10
shops. Now, if you need to go from Sea Rock Beach to the
lighthouse you must either walk in the water or throuah the inside
of several restaurants.
minister, and the local Panchayat member managed to get a 'stay'
and the demolition squad was sent away". The stav still remains in
"the owners of most of these hut-restaurants and shops own the
property behind too, If they would move back to th:::ir property,
 the beach as it was meant to be, they could continue doing
business with unrestricted seaview and perhaps would do better from
all the extra people spehding more time at the beach". Sunset Rock
was always apopular spot fortourists enjoying the magic of abeautiful
sunset. Today the rocks are almost inaccessible. And, if one reaches
the vantage point inspite of the arrack shop and the drunks hanging
around, it is difficult to stay there long enough to see the sun setting,
with all the filth.
"Sunset rocks have become lavatory for the hutment dwellers and
the garbage dump for all those hutment restaurants," said Salladeen,
manager of a local hotel and a Kovalam native. Sea Rock Beach,
is the only sandy stretch remainig for the 'non-ITDC class'tourists.
Another major problem is the lack of public toilet facilities, even at
most of the restaurants. Kovalam just doesn't make it easy for the
tourist. For instance, there is no tourist Information centre, not even
an area map or bus schedule to help the tourist. Kovaiam post office
is over three kilometres away from the tourist area. In fact, around
the bus terminal there isn't even a mail box or a coin operated public
telephone booth.
Besides the major hotels, there isn't anywhere for the tourist to cash
money. The availability of the facilities in these hotels is not
made known to the predominant "non-five star" tourists and consequently
many tourists, out of sheer necessity, resort to the illegal exchange
of money. "A tourist police force was promised by the previous
government," said Salladeen, "but we haven't seen it yet". Such
policing might help keep the "money changers", hotel touts, pimps,
drug pushers and other undesirable elements away from tourists.
Other complaints regarding Kovalam are antisocial activities such as
prostitution and illegal drugs. Also the fact that pipe water supply
end at Sea Rock Beach and Hawah Beach hotels and restaurants
offer weI! water to its guests. Several sources, who were reluctant
to be quoted, said that urine and garbage seep into these wells and
there are literally hundreds of dysentery cases treated in Kovalam
the tourist season.
"treatment" and this illness is
rid of stray dogs and
IMllthMiC'orl encroachments of the beaches, restricting areas for
tiding basic necessities like clean bathrooms, tourist
Infnrmation and communication facilities are just some of the immediate
im!,\I'Vt"lnt necessities to save Kovalam before it's too late.
- Indian Express, 6 October, 1991.
Chile: Sacred Ground Exploited
problems. The growing awareness of environmental issues in Africa
Recently I lived on Easter Island for a year and found that there
is excessive exploitation going on there. I worked briefly with the
President of the Council of Elders, a group of natives formed of one
representative from each of the 36 original island families. He was
preparing a plea to the outer world for
The occupation by Chile, 100 years ago, has never
for EaSler Island. None of the agreements were lived
~inal contract which was signed by force.
revolution, but want just treatment. Their is threatened in
numerous respects. One being their own President Pinochet
of Chile, has been trying to gain leaal title deed to the entire
except for the village area.
I have filed a report with the United Nations Human Rights Com­
mission in Geneva proposing that the Council of Elders be given the
4 13
riQht to exist under law and be heard by their sovereign nation, Chile.
There are further proposals in the report which could shed light on
other sources of exploitation. . infinitely expandable. A holel creates business for a lot of other
The governor, a Pinochet-appointed man, allowed
on three giant stone statues (moais) in June of 1988,
damaged them. After knowing of the damaae. he
have yet another cast. Shortly ther
remove a massive amount of rock, in collaboration with
Services of Chile (CONAF) near the most extensive archaeloaical
site, the quarry, Rano Raraku. This is madness; there would
be many archeological treasures there, as there are many petro­
that area and it was the main activity Genter during the
Era on the island. The Council of Elders was outraged, but
had no recourse, as they have no legal say about anything. The only
can 'do is bring lawsuits to be heard, which is expensive
no income.
governor holds a permanent position as director of the Island
Museum. One native islander entrusted an original artifact to hi2
museum and never saw it again. The Easter Islanders are very aware
that their island has lost, unfairly, most of what they consider their
sacred relics. they even believe that their island, as a result of this,
has been stripped almost completely of her mana (their word for
supernatural powers). Every native islander still believes today that
the moai were moved from the quarry to platforms allover the island
via mana. The varying theories scientists have claimed as "solutions
to the Easter Island Mystery" may be as feasible as the
legend. The islanders deserve to have their sacred relics returned,
and to gain the right to protect their heritagE
Since the report has been filed with the UN Human
I have been informed that Chile is working in collaboration
with Club Med to take over the beach of Anakena. This is one of
the most prestigious archeological sites in the world and the only
beach the islanders may enjoy (there is only one other, tiny beach).
Club Med would provide all of its own staff and keep the beach
exclusively for its members. Thus, the island would not benefit at
a!1 from this invasion, except to sell a few more moal carvings. The
beach is also considered sacred to the islanders because their
original ruler, King Hotu Matua, first set foot on that location when
he first landed. To this day islanders do not like too many noisy (,
disrespectful activities happening there.
Keeva Kroll, Seattle, USA (Cultural SUivival Quarterly, 13(3), 1989.}
HAVEN Srinand
OF Jha HASSLES
Here is God's plenty: lush-green valleys, rocky ravines, flower­
decked meadows and snowtipped mountains to thrill the most fastidious
tourist. The terrain is rich with people of exotic cultures and lan­
guages. Yet the tiny Himachal Pradesh is still waitina to be discov­
ered by travellers from distant shores.
a tnougnt to developing
Shanta Kumar of the BJP was
brimming with ideas' when he took over as chief minister. He kept
the tourism portfolio with himself and went ahead with plans for
revolutionising the very face of tourism. He has found the public
sector a great put-off and his one big dream is to privatise the tourism
sector and to make it the leading industry. But even before he could
get off the starting block, controversies started plaguing him and
world clothing factory, a lot better than having no means of earning
money at all. An especially good thing about tourism is that it is
businesses, taxis, restaurants, souvenir-makers, guides. Every digit
added to the GOP means less reliance on the begging bowl called
aid. And fostering tourism will make for a cleaner Pacific. It is
Dossible to visualise it eventually as a huge park, a watery wilderness
which even the French will decline to test their bombs. It will no
be in danger of becoming an industrial dump. It will be nearer
Eden encountered by Bougainville.
The tourism that exists in the Pacific has produced mixed results
commercially. Tahiti is expensive compared with, say, Hawaii. New
Caledonia is still associated with rebellion. Fiji has had the bad
publicity of its military coups. The insurrection in Bougainville has
cast a shadow over both Papua New Guinea and the Solomons. In
the minds of those thinking about holidays, the Pacific may not seem
all that peaceful.
This will pass. The now famous tourist area of South-East Asia,
based on Singapore, Bangkok and Hong Kong, took years to come
to flower. Island leaders, juggling their tiny budgets, may be appalled
by the cost of building hotels and the infrastructure that goes with
them. But not every place wishes to be a Miami; and the numbers
coming to the Pacific will not, by Miami standards, be huge. The
appeal of small remote islands is that they are small and remote.
P..--otectiV\9 Pa~adise
David Dahmen
stretches of unspoilt beaches, Muslim architecture and a
mix of African and Arab cultures, Zanzibar is a tourist
company's dream. So far, however, only the backpackers have found
their way to this Indian Ocean paradise 320 km off the coast of
Tanzania. This is set to change. About 30 international hotel chains,
having explored every beach from Pattaya in Thailand to Mombasa
in Kenya, have applied for building permission. Like many Third
World countries, Tanzania desperately needs foreign exchange and
tourism is a sure way of getting it.
Tourism contributes a mere 5% of the island's gross national product
and employs 6000 people. The administration plans to boost it to
15% of GNP a year about US$3 million to US$4 million a year
- by 2000. With some of the most beautiful coral islands already
leased, there were signs that Zanzibar would become another example
of unplanned tourism with all the associated environmental and social
may have saved it from that fate.
Abdulrahman S. Issa, director at the Department of Environment in
Zanzibar, says: "We realised that we had to pull the emergency
brake. Otherwise we could have had the wnole fragile ecosystem
spoiled. We have seen what has happened to the Kenyan coastline,
where tourism is a serious threat to the environment." Zanzibar has
a rich heritaae: it is the cradle of the Swahili culture, a rich mix of
and Indian cultures. It was populated long before the
arrival of the first Egyptians, Phoenicians and Persians thousands
of years ago.
Once, the slave trade provided its main source of income. Since then
the 640,000 inhabitants, including those of nearby Pemba island,
have lived mainly by spice exports and some fishing. But world prices
for the main export, cloves, have fallen. Some of the hotel chains
seeking approval to set up in the island such as Italy's 8aganza
If the Pacific rim countries do prosper as they expect, investment,
large or small, should not be the main problem. The main problem
may be the islanders themselves. The next paragraphs may offend
them.
The Pacific islanders have to change their ways. They suffer from,
to use a polite word, inertia. The basic needs of life are available
with minimum effort. Nobody need go hungry. There are fish in the
lagoon and almost anything grows in the climate of perpetual
summer. The biggest effort may be deciding what to do with the day.
Those who believe that life must offer more find their ambitions
stifled by the confines of a small island.
The outstanding virtue of the islanders is
aoodwill. However, even this may be a mixed
not grumble
In October last year George Bush was in Hawaii and saw a
delegation from the island states, the first time an American president
had agreed to such a meeting. Mr. Bush had cleared a whole day
for the islanders,prepared to endure a long list of well-founded
complaints about the way the Pacific was mistreated, the most
immediate one being the use of Johnston Island for the destruction
of chemical weapons. It was a chance to shout a bit and get world
attention for everything that the islanders grouse about among
themselves. And what happened? " We wish you love," their leader
said. Nice for a weary president. Charming. But a bit feeble.
- The Economist 16 March, 1991.
Group and the Aga Khan Development Fund have already leased
land. Others are buying land in anticipation that the sites will
eventually fetch high prices.
All these proposals are being carefuily scrutinised for their possible
impact on water use, sanitation, the environment and culture as part
of a new policy on environment and tourism. Some of the new hotels
would like to offer the tourists every facility within the compound,
and supply most things, including workers, from abroad. An Italian
hotel chain has even planned its own private airstrip for direct flights
from Europe.
But the administration is insisting that the hotel companies commit
themselves to use as much local manpower as possible as well as
raw materials and food from the island. Another concern is how to
protect the environment from the impact of the tourist industry.
Tourists come mainly to swim in the crystal clear sea, but also to
watch the marine life a1 the magnificent coral reefs and, if possible,
to take a piece of coral back
Issa says: "There is a big risk that a growing number of tourists will
rbm!:l"a the fragile reefs. The reefs have a greater number of
species than the rain forests. They are also immencail,
imMrtant to the fishing industry ofthe island." Most tourists visit
in small boats piloted by local fishermen. These boats anchor
up on the reefs using old chipped stone as anchors. Strong currents
make the anchor roll over the reefs, causing considerable damage.
The main threat 10 the reefs may be from oil and waste .
Issa says: "Pollution can make them stop growing. The silt washed
into the sea from excavation for the new beach hotels will, if we
are not careful, smother the corals,which need light to grow." The
new tourism and environment policy plans controlled development
zones to protect marine life.
The last remaining natura! forest in Pemba island is also at risk if
plans to build a large hotel compound in the middle of the 200
hectare forest reserve go ahead.
- Panoscope 23 March, 1991.
 several major projects have fallen flat.
need as it lacks basic facilities. The existing facilities are nothing
The Pacific Idea
it lost the Pacific war. In any case, the sums involved are not
for rich countries. A few million dollars goes a The Craig Nano project for the construction of an amusement park,
to write home about. Successive governments have followed a short­
is a case in point. Immediately after the project was announced, four
sighted, if not warped, tourism policy. Apart from Shimla and Manali,
The Pacific idea is important for the mental well-being of the
in the PaCific. The donor can always tell no town in Himachal is geared to meet the tourist demand.
world The Pacific idea stands for a belief in the survival of innocence.
the PaCific is "important for defence purposes". hectares of land was given to a favoured promoter who was sup­

The Pacific is not really innocent. but something

Leaders of the island states speak of the need for self-reliance, but posed to collaborate with the Himachal Pradesh Tourish Develop­
Said Steve Brown, an English tourist: "We have been fleeced
deeply attractive to the inhabitants of an increacinni\J
also say. defensively, that the islanders have a right to be ment Coroor'ation (HPTDC).
elsewhere in the country but nevel' like this." The tourist arrivals to
Trial society that has come to seem. somellow.
n'·''''''qd for their explOitation the former colonial cowers. Aid As Shanta Kumar sancttoned the project to the private promoter. the
Himachal have been showing a downward trend, the number of
Those who go tlere confirm its fabled reputation.
IS not mudl of an arournent in the real corporation contested the government's claim on the land. foreign tourists has only marginally increased because Shimla never
The chief minister then agreed to constitute a firm in vvhicl' the tails to evoke a nostalgia for the British Raj and is still quite popular
"No part of the world exerts the same attractive power the the iSlanders are ever with them, fleecing notwithstanding. But that charm is wearing thin
v;sitor." wrote Robert Louis Stevenson, who ended ii's ir a One story is that 011 the seabed HPTDC ;Yld the municipal corporation would have a shamholding
of 25 per cent each and the promoter the remaining 50 per cent. as the tourists, both domestic and foreign, find that Shimla is fast
in the Pacific. and died in Samoa. When S:8\fenSOn first minerals just to bE:) picked up. Another some~ into a concrete jungle.
the Pacific he felt he had escaped "out of tile shadow story is that the the waves and the sun could But two even before the firm could be constituted, he
of the Roman empire" He was now to see "wna] men migr:t Flbundant electriCity ilandecl over the property to the promoter, Piyush Goel. There was For several years the state government has been battling the Centre
whose fathers had never studied Virgil, had never been conquered no report and no clearance from the government agency that over the need for opening up the high-security defence zone of the
the sun and the sea that the Pacific islands do have in scrutinises tourism projects. Kinnaur region. The Centre has reportedly agreed to open up almost
by Caesar. and never been ruied by the wisdom of Gaius or ouantities should be of commercial value? Add to this the
Papinian." The fact that Goel had no experience in the construction of amuse­ 80 per cent of the Kinnaur area to foreign tourists but Shanta Kumar
and their agrefJable climate, Add in the Pacific is not happy: "everything or nothing" is his stance. His opponents,
The real Pacific. the proper Pacific, the one in the wO"Id's dream- forces beckon. Tourism calls. Tounsm, say its ment parks was of little concern to the chief minister. What perhaps
swung the deal was the man's political connections. However, Gael however, see a political reason behind his adamant stand - that
is made up of small islands, mostly in the South Seas. Some !hings it invites people to admire. But the Pacific he wants to obstruct the development of this area which had
are independent states, and remain more familiar to exception. in the places where tourism has been given could not turn the contract to his advantage as he was able to run
the park for just four months. He called it quits when the municipal constituted the erstwhile kingdom of the former Congress(l) chief
by their pre-independence names. Vanuatu, Kiribati has created a renaissance after what may be termed minister Raja Bir Bhadra Singh as he knows that the Centre cannot
Some are still colonies. Tahiti in French New Caledonia, Dark Ages. corporation went to court. Today all that is left of a project that was
to have given a big boost to tourism is the wreck of a vehicle at afford to concede his demand. Of course, he brushes aside the
American Samoa, Pitcairn, where descendants of the ?ounty still live. T;'le European explorers introduced western diseases to island­ chmQes as malicious and faise.
the site.
The very size ot the Pacific endangers it. People believe it can swiftly ers open to infection. The whalers of the southern seas kidnappec The lackadaisical stance of successive governments has hardly
consume anything dumped into it. A few miles off a shipping route women for use on their long voyages. But the main destroyers The fate of the other schemes has not been any better. The chief
minister had been rather keen on convertillg the historic Viceregal helped tourism in the state. But the cake goes to the previous
are in a place unobserved, unpoliced, as soliiary as the moon. of island culture appear to have been Christian missionaries, well­ Congress(l} which commissioned two detailed project reports on
can guess what ghastly, suppurating refuse from the industrial meaning tilOUgh they were. An 18th century French pllilosopher, Lodge in Shimla into a five·stm hotel. But it fell through because
01 stiff opposition and he had to be content with converting it into tourism potential at a cost of Rs. 80 lakh and left them to gather
states of the Pacific rim lies there, unackowledged and uncharted? Denis Diderot, had foreseen something of their impact. When the dust. It was thrown into the waste-bin when the BJP government
The Pacific's immensity persuaded western nations that it was a first accounts of Pacific life reached Europe, he pleaded that the a government guest house. Though he seems to go out of his way
to champion the cause of environment he has no qualms in took charge. Later Shanta Kumar ordered that a more grandiose
suitable testing ground for nuclear weapons. The Americans, islanders be left undisturbed to on with their seeminglY idyllic report be prepared on tourism to fulfil his dream of converting the
made Bikini uninhabitable, and the British, having decided that a eXistence. for a highly controversial cement plant at Darlaghat by r'o.!!ch·,1'1 a
wildlife sanctuary spread over a hundred square kilometres. Mean­ state into the subcontinent's Switzerland. At that time many had
place called Christmas Island deserved a better future, no longer test The Pacific remains one of the most Christianised regions of the dismissed it as ludicrous. Later events have not proved them wrong.
their weapons there. But the French are still letting off their terrible while, tourism projects on all the hydel project sites have conie to
world. The churches are closely involved with Pacific life. Numerous a standstill following the chief minister's decision against pouring - The Week, 4 August 1991.
squids underground in Mururoa, an unkind fate for a coral island. Pacific politicians are churchmen, and church laws find their way into money into areas that were not yieiding returns. Says he: What is
Again, the immesity of the Pacific encouraged fishing fleets from isiand laws But the church's influence is being modified by secular
Taiwan, South Korea and Japan to introduce what has come to be aClvitles. Tourism is one of these, as Fiji's General Sitiveni Rabuka
called the "wall of death". This is a net, miles long, which has discovered. After his double military coup in 1987 the general,
the use of pouring in scarce funds in a losing area?"
Tourism officials however talk of some 50 projects that are on the Sea Gypsies Beached
!ng Kajanavanit
down in the ocean trapping not only fish but seabirds, dolphins, even a Methodist, insisted that Fiji virtually close down on Sunday. This anvil. Among them are the ropeway projects and water sports
whales. After cries from the Greens and others, [he fishing fleets impractical decree had to be relaxed, and is now largely complexes. There is also an ambitious project to develop water Only four years ago, amidst the fanfare of "Visit Thailand Year",
they are going to use less deadly nets, or may scrap this Tourism in Fiji could not function otherwise. launch facilities, gliding and rafting at various locales and similar tourism was widely promoted and perceived as a get-rich-quick
of fishing altogether. schemes for the tribal belts alollg the Manali-Leh route. But the economic cure-ail or, in the words of the Tourism Authority "the
If you ignore the Benidorm wasterlands holidaymaking - the true commissioner of tourism, Dr. A.K. Basu, was candid enough to admit without smoke chimneys" - money for free.
May be the islands should not be blamed for tourism is the most pleasant industry in the world. It is based on that work has not been initiated on any of these projects. All that
brothers in the rest of the world are doing: it is a the gracious tradition that has evolved into the gentle art of fleecing, tourism, though classified as a light service industry, is
has been done is a study on tourism development perspective, which
nations thought their territories ended three nautical miles off shore. it is practised with decorum, so that the guest does not feel cheated, firmly tied to the property and construction business - a heavy
is likely to be published in a month's time.
All the same, claimillg these grandiose areas may be a sign that merely that there has been an exchange of gifts. This is because industry, represented less by glittering temples and swaying palms
the islands are living in a world of their own imagination rather than the simple ingredients of a trip, the sun, the beaches, the good air, The controversial privatisation idea of Shanta Kumar might have its than by giant cranes, land speculation and massive bank loans.
facing reality. the legends of the place, appear to be free, although they amount bright aspects but serious thought was not given to the ground
realities. It is being opposed by a section of the bureaucrats who At worst, many people's idea of the ills of tourism is dirty beaches.
The reality is that they are poor. The typical island state is small to an expensive. consumer product. But for the residents of Phuket, a popular tourist destination in
believe that privatisation will not succeed because of two factors.
and it has few natural resources. Trade with other islands is also Tourists are, in the main, sympathetic people not exploiters, not First, the state government is not willing to offer to private entre­ southeast Thailand, unSightly waste is among the least of their
small because what one island can offer, the products of subsistence whalers, not missionaries. For months, perhaps years, they have preneurs incentives such as sales tax exemption or concessions in worries.
farming and fishing, the other islands have already. Such things as been looking forward to the trip. Now the moment has come. What land or electricity. Secondly, the law of the land allows only local The people of Phuket have to contend with fresh water shortage,
interest the world beyond the islands palm oil and copra, for the visitor sees within the jurisdiction of a hotel may not be quite to buy land in the state. More than 80 per cent of the overcrowding, lack of recreation spaces for locals, the privatisation
example -- compete with big producers elsewhere in the tropics. to the taste of those who seek "the real thing". The dancing girls is protected as class 111 forest land which cannot be distributed
With a tiny domestic market, an island has little inclination to develop pur on a performance which is only a shadow of the !ory-Iory that of public beaches, the spread of sex tourism to once quiet villages,
by the state government without clearance from the Union environ­ noise pollution, traffic congestion, soaring land prices and, worst of
even light industry. Herman Melville described. They may not even be local, but imported ment ministry.
from Manchester or Tokyo: because of the Chiristian influence, the all, the highest cost of living in the Kingdom, caused by tourism­
The islands depend on aid. The island states have not had much The opponents of Shanta Kumar also fault him for induced inflation, which squeezes out smaller tourism entrepreneurs.
difficulty in persuading outsiders to pay up. Some donors, such as island girls tend to be shy about nakedness. But they do their best
to please, just as the island girls did when Captain Cook rowed to develop tourism in -areas which might not Even qovernment schools are threatened with removal by powArflJ1
Britain and Australia. are former colonial powers, still wonderinq attractive by private entrepreneurs. For the current year,
whether they should have allowed these dots on the map to go ~ ashore from the t:ndeavour. developers. The village school on Kata beach, for instance, is
crore has been allocated for tourism which might just be
alone. Japan, seemingly ever ready to listen to a hard-luck story, may No one pretends that, for islanders, working as a waiter or a gone, replaced by Club Mediterranee. Perhaps the worst affected are
to meet the establishment expenses. Even if Shanta Kumar
feel a nostalgia for the thousand or so Pacific islands it ruled until chambermaid is a iovous life. But it is better than work in a third- to attract tourists, the state would be in no position to cater to the oriainal inhabitants of Phuket, the sea gypsies, who lived here

12 5
for hundreds of years before the mainlanders came and claimed its
riches as their own.
that Filipinas, Thais and other Asian women employed as hostesses
Every day at about 9 am, the gleaming tour buses start to arrive
On Oct. 17 President Corazon Aquino dispatched a special mission
at the sea gypsy village on Rawaii beach. From the road, the village
to Japan to probe the Sioson case. Its leader, Labour Secretary
does not look much different from a Bombay slum, providing a
Ruben Torres, told Asiaweek that while the Filipinos met Japanese
perfect Third World photo opportunity: well-heeled tourists gingerly
government ministers, it was beyond their jurisdiction to conduct an
traipsing around patched-up huts and mounds of garbage, and in
official investigation.
their wake some grubby children, begging for money. As recommen­
As far as Japanese authorities are concerned, Sioson died of ful­
ded by a tourist publication, some tourists throw coins into the sea
minant hepatitis. Resulting from viral hepatitis, the disease is deadly
for children to dive after.
in 90% of cases. Complications include liver failure, delay in blood­
The village's official name, recently given by the government, is Baan
clotting and damage to the kidneys and nervous system. Patients
Thai Mai, or Village of the New Thais, which makes the villagers
often lapse into a coma.
indignant. Five years ago, the village was neither dirty nor so
But members of the Philippine mission said they found "several
crowded. But whole communities of gypsies from surrounding islands
noteworthy inconSistencies" in the hospital's laboratory charts, includ­
who lost their homelands to tourism have moved in. Without official
ing Sioson's fever pattern and coma scale. They also said records
documents to prove their claim, ignorant of their rights and fearful
given to the Philippine labour attache showed that Sioson was
of the authorities, they can be moved without much prompting.
attended to by a team of doctors from Sept. 7 to 14. But "no record
was ever submitted regarding the medical attention she received
The journey of the displaced gypsies might not end even here at
the Village of the New Thais. As Phuket land prices soar along with
from Sept. 11 to 14," said the mission's report, written by NBI
its status as an international resort, there are increasing signs that
medical-legal officer Floresto Arizala.
the gypsies are not welcome to remain. Lacking paper ownership,
they live here as tenants of Thai landlords, who are anxious to clear
the land and sell it to developers. No one who has lived more than
10 years on a piece of land can be forcibly evicted, but there are
official plans to move the whole village to an inland mangrove
swamp.
The village carpenter, whose house is ort the beachfront, has been
forbidden to repair it. He has the wood, stacked under the house
for years, and he has the tools, but he must live in the tiny lop­
sided house with four other people, until such time as he cannot
stand it any more, and moves away of his own volition.
During the monsoon, the village is turned into a stinking pond, its
livestock wallowing in knee-deep water, as natural waterways are
filled in and its once many paths to the sea and the main road are
closed off by brick walls on all sides. Drinking wells are polluted,
disease is rampant. There are walls even along the beach, making
it impossible to pull the boats up on the shore for safe-keeping when
the sea is rough.
"Now we have to unload our boats at the far end of the beach, where
the resorts are, but they get angry because they say our fish is smelly
and scares away their tourists", the villager said. "So here we are
inside these walls, like animals".
-PANOS
Brazil: Forests in the Balance
James Brooke
With "Green Tourism" expected to triple in the Amazon basin in the
1990's, environmentalists in the region's largest city are weighing its
impact on the fate of the forest. Aided by reports of farmers burning
the rainforest, the world's discovery of this isolated region is well
established. Visitors, largely Americans and Europeans, come to the
Amazon to fish for piranhas, study monkeys at tree tops and fall
asleep at night listening to choruses of jungle birds. Manaus, a
humid, riverfront city that stagnated after the collapse of the rubber
boom in the early 1900's, now ranks after Rio de Janeiro and Sao
Paulo as the Brazilian city with the most international air links.
6 11
Brazil's national tourism authority, Embratur, based in Brasilia, is
making nature tourism its priority this year, and Manaus hoteliers
plan to double the number of five-star hotel rooms to 3,000 by 1999.
The number of foreign tourists coming to Manaus had been growing
steadily from 12,000 in 1983 to 59,000 in 1989, before dropping last
year to 39,357 - a decline that has been largely attributed to the
country's economic disarray. The economy is expected to have little
impact on Manaus' tourism industry this year.
"Green tourism is a good thing, but not something you can count
on for protecting a lot of forest," said Philip M Fearnside, an
American ecologist who studies deforestation here at the National
Institute for Research in the Amazon. "Tourists find walking around
a few acres to be enough. That doesn't provide economic justification
for preserving hundreds of square miles of forests". Forming the
embryo of a powerful lobby, the number of Manaus travel agencies
catering to tourists quadrupled in the last five years to 67. By 1999,
tourism is expected to become the state's largest source of
international exchange.
"If we have a large contingent of people visiting the Amazon, ideas
will change," said Silvio Magalhaes Barros, President of Emamtur,
the state tourism authority. Aware of the growing tourism lobby,
Gilberto Mestrinho, the new governor of Amazonas state, has moved
away from the confrontational stands that the five other state
governors in Brazil's Amazon region often take on environmental
issues.
According to a recent study by the Organization of American States,
the number of foreigners participating in nature tours in the Amazon
basin, is expected to increase from 123,000 in 1988 to at least
375,000 by 1999. A poll of 436 international travellers at Latin
American airports, found that 47 percent cited nature destinations
as an important factor in vacation planning. Although tourism is
labor-intensive industry, some critics predict that its benefits will
bypass the Amazonians, either the Indians or the Caboclos •
peasants who fish and farm along the region's riverbanks. "All the
profits go out of the area, and the local communities are left by
the wayside," said Diana Propper de Callejon, Brazil's representative
to Cultural Survivial, an international organisation dedicated to
defending indigenous groups. "Local groups should be given invest­
ment shares in tour companies".
In one effort, a Manaus environmental group plans to train Cabaclos
to work as park guards and ecological guides in the Jau National
Park, a vast wilderness area 150 miles upriver from here. "The idea
is that the Cabaclos will depend on the conservation of the park,which
is the largest in Brazil," said Leonardo Lacerda, a planner with the
group, the Fundacao Victoria Amazonica.
WHAT KILLED MfiRICRISl
work in horrendous conditions and are often m~streated.
At 4 am on Sept. 13, says Leonora Sioson Pacheco, she was
awakened by a man pounding on the front door of her Manila home.
The man was from the employment agency that had arranged for
her younger sister, Maricris Sioson, 21, to work as a dancer in Japan.
Maricris, he reported, was suffering from hepatitis and had slipped
into a coma. Pacheco was shocked. But the news did not prepare
her for what she would hear the next night. The man came by again
at 1.30 am to tell her that Maricris had died.
The news threw the Sioson family into stunned disbelief. How could
their beloved, beautiful Maricris be dead? Five months earlier she
had left for Japan full of hope. As an "entertainer" at a karaoke bar,
she would be making $1,500 a month. Annualised, that would be
24 times the Philippines' per-capita GNP. She had written home only
once. Life as a dancer at the night club in Fukushima prefecture,
200 km north of Tokyo, hadn't turned out as expected. In the July
letter she complained that her salary was being held back. "I can't
stand the situation here any more," she wrote. "I want to go home.
All of us here want to go home. I might go crazy. Our life here is
hard."
On his return, Torres told a press conference that the Japanese
When family members saw Maricris' body, they began to question government was willing to help uncover the circumstances of Si­
the cause of her death. The bloated, disfigured corpse at the funeral oson's death. On Oct. 23, however, Japanese police declared the
parlour barely resembled the young woman they had seen off at the case closed. The Philippine consular office in Japan also came under
airport in April. The report of the Hanawa Welfare Hospital in fire. Staffers had issued statements from Siosan's Filipino co-workers
Fu~ushima, where Sioson passed away, said she died of "multiple
that no foul play was involved.
organ failure secondary to fulminant (suddenly developed) hepatitis."
Her relatives were sceptical. The employment agency had asked In Japan the case has highlighted the poor working conditions and
questionable labour contracts often foisted on Filipinas and other'
them to sign an affidavit waiving their right to request an autopsy.
They had agreed. But now they demanded one. The findings of an foreign women. The labour code for well-known foreign entertainers
does not apply to hostesses. Says Matsuda Mizuho, director of a
autopsy by the Philippine National Bureau of Investigation (NBI)
seemed to confirm their worst fears. Sioson, said the NBI report, had Tokyo women's shelter called House in Emergency for Love and
died of "traumatic head injuries" and had suffered a "massive" brain Peace (HELP): "The Philippines sends their women as 'entertainers'
haemorrhage. She also had what appeared to be stab wounds on but in Japan they're 'hostesses' many involved in prostitution." Help'
her right thigh and genitals. has provided shelter to 260 foreign women and four children this
year. The vast majority were Thai. But most women who call the
The findings were enough to hurl the death of Maricris Sioson on shelter for help are Filipinas, says Matsuda. Their complaints range
to the front pages of Manila newspapers. The Philippine consul­
from sexual and physical abuse to mistreatment and lower-than­
general in Tokyo, Jesus Yabes, revealed that Sioson was the 33rd stipulated salaries.
Filipino "entertainer" to die in Japan since January. He did not say
how they died. The Manila women's centre BATIS said the number Many bars in Japan are controlled by small-time gangsters. They
could be higher. The embassy's list. it noted, did not include "en­ bring in Thais and Filipinas to work as hostesses. Taking advantage
tertainer" Cecilia San Miguel, who died in June of a brain hemor­ of the women's language inability and cultural disorientation, employ­
rhage. An NBI autopsy reportedly found a contusion on her head ers often confiscate their passports and return air tickets and treat
and bruises on her body, although Japanese doctors said she them as virtual slaves.
suffered no such injuries. Sen. Santanina Rasul, head of the Philippine Senate Committee on
Women & Family Relations, has complained about the treatment of
Besides causing a minor diplomatic row, the Sioson case has
focused attention on the plight of cash-strapped countries that Filipinas by recruitment agencies in Manila. Rasul has called for a
depend on remittances from OV6rseas workers. It's also stirred up temporary ban on Filipino entertainers in Japan. Last week Labour
emotional debate over whether Filipinas should be banned from Secretary Torres met with recruiters, members of non-government
organisations and officials of government overseas-workers admini­
working abroad as bar hostesses. The Japanese embassy in Manila
said the club where Sioson worked "does not have a reputation as strations. They proposed that the cabinet impose a selective ban on
Filipino performers in Japan.
a prostitution spot." Still, it's suspected that many Filipino hostesses
in Japan are forced into prostitution. Earlier Torres, along with many Filipino contract workers, had come
Last year in Japan there were 40,000 legally recruited Filipino out strongly against a ban. Torres argued that the Philippines, with
"entertainers" known in the host country as "Japayuki-sans" ("Miss 4 million unemployed, can ill afford it. But for BATIS executive
Go-to-Japans"). It's estimated that, including illegally recruited ones, director Carmelita Nuqui, no price is too high if it means saving
there may be up to 90,000 in all. Japanese women's shelters report people's lives.
- Asiaweek, 29 November, 1991.
Sustainable Tourism Initiative
Integrated Tourism Services
Costa Rica is famous for its "green" thinking and has recently
received international attention as an "ecotourism" destination. Though
full of rainforest wildlife, it is also increasingly deforested.
Tourism is now the second largest foreign currency earner after the
banana industry. The country is new to tourism but the impact of
tourism on small communities and delicate ecosystems is begining
to be felt. In the face of a tourism boom, the country has become
split over what is appropriate tourism and how far to develop facilities
and sevices for tourists.
The government wants to develop small-scale tourism projects, but
is hemmed in by short-term economic need and forced to entice large
foreign investments. Despite much talk on conservation within the
Costa Rica's natural beauty may yet be tarnished bv the
sheer scale of future tourism.
Action must be taken immediately to prevent Costa Rica from
becoming an environmental theme park (rainforest land), a pale copy
of tourism in other countries. The natural environment can be
protected through careful, controlled use of tourism. Cultural life and
local diversity can be sustained. There must be thought and planning
before building. The benefits of tourism must outweigh the negative
fallout. Tourism must not kill tourism,
inviting people from Malaysia, South Pacific Islands and
The Eco Institute of Costa Rica has a vision for tourism in Central
America. It has created a think tank that brings together for the first
time government officials, private developers, community activists,
environmentalists, and the tourism industry. The think tank meets for
dialogue and constructive planning:
• How should Costa Rican tourism look in 2000?
• How to educate isolated communities about the change
tourism brings and what tourists want?
• How to prevent local people being overdependant on an
unpredictable tourism industry?
• How to solve land disputes when one group wants a hotel,
another a nature reserve and a third rice fields?
• How to do all this AND keep travelling and tourism fun?
The Eco Institute's pro-active think tank meets to influence government
policies; represent cOMmunities and conservation interests; coordinate
appropriate development projects; mitigate the negative impacts of
tourism (overuse of resources, crime, rising prices, prostitution,
overdevelopment, pollution, vanishing wildlife, crowded beaches,
social inequality); give marginal groups a piece of the action: and
radically change the Central American tourism profile. It aims to
make tourism a sustainable form of development and to provide a
viable model for the many other countries in Latin America who are
also turning to tourism as a way of curing economic ills.
The Eco Institute is a Costa Rican non-profit organisation. The
president is internationally-renowned environmentalist, Maurice
Strong, who is currently organising the 1992 UN Environment Confe­
rence in Brazil. The director of the Sustainable Tourism Initiative is
Dr. Deirdre Evans-Pritchard. Contact her at
Instituto Eco de Costa Rica, Aptd. 8080-1000 San Jose, Costa Rica.
10
Integrated Tourism Services (ITS) is a domestic and international
tourism consultancy firm. It offers a mix of business advice. policy
analysis. management consultancy. research. training and
education services.
ITS is an innovative response to the opportunities, problems and
dilemmas posed by new. existing and declining tourism indus­
tries.
ITS is not unthinkingly 'pro-tourism' - rather it adopts a balanced
approach to the tourism phenomenon. aware of the cost as well
as the benefits of tourism.
ITS takes the veiw that tourism, as with any form of develoment,
has the potential to enrich or harm the Jives of those touched
by
Accordingly, one of its prinCiple goals is to argue the need for
a much deeper understanding of the phenomenon.
ITS provides an analytical framework to guide tourism develop­
ment in ways which respect the environment, culture and
society of host communities whilst contributing positively to
economic development. profitability and the promotion of
employment.
ITS is headed by an internationa: tourism analyst and backed
by an inter-diSciplinary network of tourism conSUltants.
ITS will work in partnership with individual or institutional clients
on a wide variety of tourism-related initiatives.
ITS examines the complexities of domestic and international
tourism; identifies and prioritises issues; confronts problems and
sculpts a new tourism agenda relevant to future needs,
Highlights the economic costs and benefits which typically
accompany tourism development: offers a conceptual
framework and mix of services for tourism policy-makers at
various levels of government.
Looks at the important issues facing government planners as
overall tourists numbers grow - in terms of administration,
policy-making. evaluation of resources and the develop­
ment of specific modes of tourism.
Advises the aspiring entrepreneur; offers a range of manage­
ment consultancy services; appraises new projects and
conducts feasibility studies,
Focuses on the specific challenges facing tourism promot­
ers; assesses the planning of marketing: counsels on market
intelligence sources; consults on tourism images and con­
ducts market opportunities analysis.
Works towards a greater understanding of the positive and
negative environmental. cultural, social and political im­
pacts of tourism through a variety of educational, training
and consultancy packages.
Analyses the opportunities and threats tQurism can bring to
local communities; provides advice to community-led
tourism initiatives, rural and urban. and works to resolve
conflicts between locals and developers.
Provides a social-psychological framework of the tourist;
explores issues around growing consumer disenchantment;
looks at tourist behaviour and responsibilities: examines the
touristIlocal encounter.
Discusses course and curriculum design; training needs
assessments; tourism-executive programmes- tourism and
development education; study tours; training materials and
creative conferencing.
..::0.. Argues the need of more evaluative, policy-relevant tourism
research; looks at better management of "in-house" research
strategies; advises on academic sources and carries out
client-directed research.
- ITS ltd, Brae Street, Dunkeld,
Perthshire .PHS 08A Scotland.
Another fear is that uncontrolled green tourism will result in the
overcrowding and degrading of the same wilderness areas that
attracted visitors in the first place. One site, the January Lake, across
the Rio Negro from Manaus,is often cluttered with boats visiting giant
water lily pads. "Carrying capacity is the key word", said Silvana
Carnpello: a Brazilian biologist who administers programs in
Brazil for the United States' Nature Conservancy. " Eco tourism is
not the destination, but wilat you do when you get there".
But caveats not withstanding, most environmentalists said that
improves the prospects for survival of the forest. They
predict that tourists - foreign and Brazilian will create an informed
international constituency for its defence. "It is easy to sit in an air­
conditioned room and say, "We need to save the trees," Eugene
Aull, a tourist from New York, said as he relaxed from a river trip.
'There is incredible poverty down here. You have to aive them
something in return ."
Peter N Lahanas, a University of Miami biologist who served as tour
guide added, "These people are more informed, they will have a real
image when they get back. The next time someone knocks on their
door asking for money for the rain forest, they will give."
- New York Times, 19 May, 1991.
~~EIj~¥4
Thank you l'ely much for highlighting ollr Antarctica
in your recent issue of ANL. It is very close to our heart and
the definition of a Peace Park is carrying, we believe,
principles which could well be applied anywhere in the world
and help establish a link between grass root peoples who seek
to restore health to all the many diflerent relationships 'with
our natural environment. We see it as an ongoing venture and
vel)' much in harmony with the essential ideas of New
l'ow·ism.
Yes, as you will realise, we completely agree mass tourism
is poisonous to -the integrity of any people or country and
seems to stimulate greed, had taste and gluttony in both
visitor and host. Tourism is so closely linked with the policies
of local governments and industries as to how they develop
and exploit the country's /latural resources.
One thing is hecoming ahundantly clear, not just in Sarawak
and Malaysia hut in most other countries as well: there i:., an
inconceivably wide gap hetl1'een the text of glossy pamphlets
and reports on government policies with regard to forestry,
tourism, industrial waste and pollution PIc., assuring citizens,
visitors and customers of clean, green, caring and sustainable
management - and what happens in reality. More and more
howel'er, are beginning to feel that something is
seriously wrong, and enrironmentalists (scientists and doctors
among them) are alerting the world to the shortsighted,
and selfish wheelings and dealings with the earth's
natural resources and the shamefully unfair distrihution
them. Theory alld practice of government policies and com­
- Desai, Singh & Gonsalves (Advocates)
mitments are (~ften so far apart that you would not know,
unless actually told, that one was related to the other. Engineers House, 86 Apollo Street, Bombay-400 023.
7
One cannot help wondering !l some type qf UN peace keeping
force. men and women who were uniJiased und reliable and
acceptable to the family (~l nations could he estahlished to
guide, stlpel'l'is(! alld encourage right action in these matters,
thus lessening the gap betvveen theory alld practice, aspiration
and application. May be such a peace keeping force could
also serve as a hridge between governments, industries and
ell vironmentalists , 'who today can lend to slow up the process
of healing through long and mutually hur(/IJ/ confrontations.
Such a group might also provide the world with reliahle and
halanced information, which takes the whole siruaTion into
account and therefore presents each issue to the world's
people as openly and un-biased as possihie. Upon such
information decisions can be made which will serve and
henefit all and inspire everyone to participate in a corporate
thrust to put our house in order and make it heautiful. I think
everyone agrees that it is us, the people of the world, that
must bring changes about. However well intentioned a gov­
ernment might be, it cannot hring the promised changes
without the combined efforts of individual human beings
within all walks of life. So mayhe one day we shall he able
to arrange a 'new tourism' meeting here in New Zealand,
many other places. It is certainly an issue which touches so
many areas of society and could bring such blessings to
people's lives instead of tragedy as is now so often the
case. Let's see if such a meeting wants to happen!
GITABROOKE
Operation Peace Through Unity, 'Te Rang;', 4 Allison
Street, Wanganui 5001, New Zealand.
I am told that you have set up an alternative Tourism Nern/ork
where tourists interested in the social aspects of the various
movements in India contact YOll, and you work out for them
an alternative trail. I would he very interested in collaborating
with you on this because I find many tourists very sincere and
socially committed and we have had very positive experiences
when we put them in touch with social organisations and
activists groups. More particularly, if you would include us
in your nernJork, we could arrange to put persons who visit
Bombay in touch with various individu.als and groups in Ma­
harashtra and particularly, if the visitors are willing to live
in a particular m'eafor some time and work among the people
we can provide certain support structures for (his kind of
involvement .
Since we do a lot of public interest work we do need people
to work with activist grou.ps in various areas and, in the
process, draft puhlic interest petitions.
ll.vas therefore quite enthused when I heard about your efforts
ana I would like to know whether we can work together on
this.
COLIN GONSflLVES
 PEQFECT Ht\QMONY
& Views
Veenu Sandal
The conflict between tourism and the environment is perhaos the
stiffest challenge, the biggest dilemma facing the travel and
industry today. Recent years have witnessed a boom in the tourist
trade. Closely allied as it is to a steady growth in disposable or
expendable personal incomes, tourism has prospered and flourished,
particularly in the northern states of Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar
Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh.
But this very success of tourism has begun to degrade the environment,
out the adage, "tourism destroys tourism". If handled
can provide a spectacular boost to state economies,
as was the case earlier in .J & K. If allowed to develop on an ad
hoc basis without any long term perspective or plan, as is happenin.-.
in most hill stations, it could well destroy both the environment
the tourist trade. As a result, the inseparable link between tourism
and the environment is the single most contentious issue that
currently exercises the minds of planners.
The Ministry of Environment and Forests and the Ministry of Tourism
have long been at loggerheads over the matter of planned development.
While many of the viewpoints continue to differ, there are welcome
signs of a thaw. Appalled at the growing instances of unbridied
Kamal Nath, Ministry of State for Environment and Forests
out plans to ensure that tourism does not indulge in
.,.......,"""n+ exploitation of the environment.
"One of our major thrusts is going to be to reconcile efforts for the
protection of the environment and development of tourism. There is
no reason why tourism cannot be environmentally compatible - but
this calls for a dynamic mass awakening programme."
Recognising it as "one of the biggest problems" the Ministry of
Tourism too is voicing an increasing concern for the el1'Jironment.
However, the ministry is of the view that tourism cannot be dispersed·
at will. Basic infrastructure such as construction of roads and hotels
are an integral part of the development of tourism. Yet it is an
inescapable fact; the more the tourists, the more elaborate the
and so quicker the degradation of the environment.
Jayanta Sanyal, additional Director General of Tourism, disclosed
that concerted attempts are underway to sensitise people in the
tourist trade to the dangers of over-exploitation of the environment.
However, Sanyal acknowledges that poor implementation is a problem.
"At the micro level, a number of adverse factors come in to play,
such as lack of adequate control by local authorities, the profiteering
and economic gain motive, vested interests and so on".
There is no incentive for a single hotelier to SlOp unless he is sure
his competitors will do so as well. This is precisely what happened
in Kashmir. A wave of newly built houseboats threatened to overcrowd
(and pollute) the blue waters of the Dallake, besides
(often under the counter) on the State's natural resources
increasing amounts of sweet scented cedar wood for building the
houseboats.Finally, to protect the environment, the state government
had to impose a ban on the further construction of houseboats.
Significantly, the other state governments too have started initiating
measures to control tourism so that the carrying capacity is not
exceeded or the countryside despoiled. In UP's world famous Valley
of F.lowers, the state government concerned at the ecological damage
being caused to the delicate flora of the valley by a growing number
of tourists, banned overnight halts and camping.
8 9
INDIA ~ News
The water shortage in Darjeeling is also bad advertisement for a
to curb the exploitation of the environment, there must
be an agreement on self regulation within the industry an
tricky affair because of the profit motive, or an imposition of rules
from the government. A third avenue of environmental protection and
the balanced development is being explored under the auspices of
the International Youth Centre.
Dr. Indira Koithara, programme director at the IYC, makes some vital
observations and stresses the role that tourists themselves can play
in the coming years. According to Dr. Koithara "there is little
realisation among tourist promoters and tourists that environmental
n~,,+al"til'\n is in their own interest.
How can tourists be expected or persuaded to pay attention to the
environment? "Tourists can contribute greatly towards the environmental
protection. 11 would make a healthy difference and tourism and the
environment could co-exist in a far happier manner than they do
today if even half of the total number opt to live in tents, walk and
trek over natural trails, and become conscious of the damage that
discarded non-biodegradable garbage and an appetite for firewood
can cause," points out Dr. Koithara.
In Rajasthan, where environmental damage has been minimised due
largely to planned development, plans are underway to create
awareness among locals on a diverse range of issues. Mr. V.P.
deputy director at the Rajsthan tourism bureau said that in
order to sustain tourism, parity has to be maintained between tourism
and environment. "Neglecting the environment would in the long run,
result in the decrease in tourist traffic, which would affect the
economy of Rajasthan, a development that the state can ill afford."
In Haryana the carrying capacities of different places are being
worked out and then dovetailed, if possible, with programmes that
are mutually attractive and beneficial for both the tourists and locals.
However, knotty problems still remain to be tackled, such as the
reduction (due to human ingress) of the habitat of the Indian black
buck once a star tourist attraction. The scrapping of the Rs. 50
crore Disneyland project in which some 4000 acres of forest reserves,
a hill top and prime land near Dandama lake would have beer.
swallowed for an amusement park, nas brought cheer to the
environmental lobby.
UP and HP have both seen in recent years the emergence of
environmental pressure groups and movements at the grassroot
level. Sunderlal Bahuguna, the acclaimed Chipko movement leader,
said the excesses of mass tourism must be countered. "Bhutan limits
tourists to less than 2000 a year. Why can't tourist numbers be
regulated in UP and HP as well?" he asks.
stations such as Mussoorie, which registered an estimated 30
per cent increase in tourist traffic over last year, and Shimla. are
dying -- choked by a surfeit of tourism.
The entertainment tax has come to stay in most states. Why not
an environment tax? Mass tourism cannot be wished away. Welcome
or unwelcome, it is here to stay. The search has already begun, but
in the years ahead, the northern states will have to find more
effective ways to keep alive their economies, places of interest and
the dreams of holiday makers alive.
The Economic Times, 2 August 1991
Over The Hill
Christopher Coleridge with Nabanita Dutt
"Even God could not solve the problems of Darjeeling," says an
aged schoolmaster and resident of the hill station. And he's not the
only person to feel this way about what was once termed the Queen
of the Hills. More and more locals and some outsiders as well
- are beginning to despair of Darjeeling. Not only have·civic facilities
completely broken down in the region, the prinCipal revenue-earners,
the tea and tourism industries, no longer bring in the kind of
did earlier. Consider the facts - and figures. Tea plantations
in the Darjeeling area numbered 102 in the Sixties. By 1987 the
figure had dropped to 85. The activities of the Gorkha National
Liberation Front (GNLF) and the resultant violence resulted in production
from 13 million kg/annum in '86 to 11 million in '87, with a crop value
loss of Rs. 2.5 crores.
Tourism was hit just as hard. In 1985, 1,40,000 tourists had come
to the hill resort; two years later only a handlful of people braved
the GNLF agitation to visit the region. As GNLF president Subash
Ghisingh got more and more aggressive, the authorities refused to
allow foreign nationals entry into the area, for security reasons. This
had an even more detrimental effect on the tourist trade.
A glimmer of hope was, however, held out when a compromise was
worked out between the Indian government and the GNLF. For long,
residents of the area had complained that matters could only
improve if the administration was given over to the locals. Finally
that demand was met in 1988, with the constitution of the Darjeeling
Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC). But if this move was expected to herald
a prosperous restructuring, the result proved to be rather disappoint-
Local officials, appear to be making little effort to make the lot of
the tourists easier. For instance, there appear to have been little hairs
lost over the taxi drivers' habit of grossly overcharging passengers.
It is not just taxi drivers who are greedy: 'worldliness' bas permeated
most of the population, and some see its growth as central to
Oarjeeling's problems. Says Ranjit Thapa, a local restaurant owner:
"The simplicity of the hill people has been swept away by greedy
young men filled with Western ideals." Others think that the rot set
in during World War II. when European soldiers were sent to
to recuperate for two months at a time. Attempting to
in any way they could, they created inflationary
pressures in the local economy.
Further discouragement to tourist traffic is provided by the civic
facilities that exist - or more accurately, do not exist - in Darjee­
ling. The condition of the roads, for one, is abysmal. It is even
rumoured that the taxi driver lobby is behind the terrible condition
of the roads. By paying the contractors small sums to keep the
quality of the work low, it ensures that roads are blocked more often,
resulting in longer detours and hence greater rewards.
place that projects itself as a tourist centre. Therf;! are now well over
1,00,000 people in the town proper, being served by a water
designed for 30,000. Taps often do not work and,
a trickle. The DGHC's proposal to construct an airstrip on
has invited great criticism on environmental grounds. Construc­
tion work on the hill side, it is feared, could cause landslides or
worse.
A recent estimate stated that over half the farmers were under threat
from landslides. The airstrip may harm the water-supply too, since
the seven foot deep tarmac necessary for the runway will stop water
being absorbed into the earth, water which in time runs down to
Senchal Lake. To make matters worse, deforestation is also rampant
in the region. This, in turn, has led to a decreased rainfall:
from exacerbating the water problem, this has caused harm to rare
local plants and adversely affected the oxygen supply of the region.
While forest cover disappears rapidly, the population of the area
seems to be increasing at an ever increasing rate.
A worrying result is a possibility of an outbreak of disease, especially
tuberculosis (TB). The number of people suffering from TB has shot
up of late. But instead of helping curb the spread of the disease
the authorities hide its very existence, for fear of scaring away the
tourists. It is thus left to such institutions as Hayden Hall, looked
after by Jesuits, to step into the breach.
Asks an angry priest, who helps run the centre: "If the
is so keen on bringing in the tourists why don't they improve the
appalling transport system by issuing more licences instead of taking
Marutis off the road because their drivers, though experts on hilly
roads, have no legal licence? If they ha.ve the good of the region
at heart, why don't they explore the possibilities of developing orange
orchards, which have as much profit potential as tea? Why don't they
build more schools and create jobs in the region?"
But then, even the tea industry is not in the best of the health. Profits
made thereof are rarely if ever reinvested in Darjeeling. It was
~,,, .... :,,,,h, this sort of situation that the Hill Council was expected to
But its performance has been far from satisfactory on this
score - as on most others.
One reason for this may well be its members' fear of Chairman
Ghisingh, which doesn't aid either communication or honest debate.
Queries relating to any financial matter, however simple, for instance,
cannot be answered without his express permission. Council members
are not alone in their paranoia: townsmen systematically refuse to
have their criticisms attributed to them by name, for fear of attracting
reprisals.
The DGHC defends itself by citing underfunding as the principal
cause behind its failure to transform Dajeeling into a model tourist
resort. The state government imparted to the Hill Council a veneer
of self-rule to wash its own hands off a region which was
to be a drain on its resources. The state government, for its part,
insists that the DGHC is guilty of gross mismanagement, hence the
sorry state of affairs in the hill-station.
And while the two sides trade charges, Darjeeling's dreams die fast.
- SUNDAY 8·14 September, 1991.
 PEQFECT Ht\QMONY
& Views
Veenu Sandal
The conflict between tourism and the environment is perhaos the
stiffest challenge, the biggest dilemma facing the travel and
industry today. Recent years have witnessed a boom in the tourist
trade. Closely allied as it is to a steady growth in disposable or
expendable personal incomes, tourism has prospered and flourished,
particularly in the northern states of Jammu and Kashmir, Uttar
Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana and Madhya Pradesh.
But this very success of tourism has begun to degrade the environment,
out the adage, "tourism destroys tourism". If handled
can provide a spectacular boost to state economies,
as was the case earlier in .J & K. If allowed to develop on an ad
hoc basis without any long term perspective or plan, as is happenin.-.
in most hill stations, it could well destroy both the environment
the tourist trade. As a result, the inseparable link between tourism
and the environment is the single most contentious issue that
currently exercises the minds of planners.
The Ministry of Environment and Forests and the Ministry of Tourism
have long been at loggerheads over the matter of planned development.
While many of the viewpoints continue to differ, there are welcome
signs of a thaw. Appalled at the growing instances of unbridied
Kamal Nath, Ministry of State for Environment and Forests
out plans to ensure that tourism does not indulge in
.,.......,"""n+ exploitation of the environment.
"One of our major thrusts is going to be to reconcile efforts for the
protection of the environment and development of tourism. There is
no reason why tourism cannot be environmentally compatible - but
this calls for a dynamic mass awakening programme."
Recognising it as "one of the biggest problems" the Ministry of
Tourism too is voicing an increasing concern for the el1'Jironment.
However, the ministry is of the view that tourism cannot be dispersed·
at will. Basic infrastructure such as construction of roads and hotels
are an integral part of the development of tourism. Yet it is an
inescapable fact; the more the tourists, the more elaborate the
and so quicker the degradation of the environment.
Jayanta Sanyal, additional Director General of Tourism, disclosed
that concerted attempts are underway to sensitise people in the
tourist trade to the dangers of over-exploitation of the environment.
However, Sanyal acknowledges that poor implementation is a problem.
"At the micro level, a number of adverse factors come in to play,
such as lack of adequate control by local authorities, the profiteering
and economic gain motive, vested interests and so on".
There is no incentive for a single hotelier to SlOp unless he is sure
his competitors will do so as well. This is precisely what happened
in Kashmir. A wave of newly built houseboats threatened to overcrowd
(and pollute) the blue waters of the Dallake, besides
(often under the counter) on the State's natural resources
increasing amounts of sweet scented cedar wood for building the
houseboats.Finally, to protect the environment, the state government
had to impose a ban on the further construction of houseboats.
Significantly, the other state governments too have started initiating
measures to control tourism so that the carrying capacity is not
exceeded or the countryside despoiled. In UP's world famous Valley
of F.lowers, the state government concerned at the ecological damage
being caused to the delicate flora of the valley by a growing number
of tourists, banned overnight halts and camping.
8 9
INDIA ~ News
The water shortage in Darjeeling is also bad advertisement for a
to curb the exploitation of the environment, there must
be an agreement on self regulation within the industry an
tricky affair because of the profit motive, or an imposition of rules
from the government. A third avenue of environmental protection and
the balanced development is being explored under the auspices of
the International Youth Centre.
Dr. Indira Koithara, programme director at the IYC, makes some vital
observations and stresses the role that tourists themselves can play
in the coming years. According to Dr. Koithara "there is little
realisation among tourist promoters and tourists that environmental
n~,,+al"til'\n is in their own interest.
How can tourists be expected or persuaded to pay attention to the
environment? "Tourists can contribute greatly towards the environmental
protection. 11 would make a healthy difference and tourism and the
environment could co-exist in a far happier manner than they do
today if even half of the total number opt to live in tents, walk and
trek over natural trails, and become conscious of the damage that
discarded non-biodegradable garbage and an appetite for firewood
can cause," points out Dr. Koithara.
In Rajasthan, where environmental damage has been minimised due
largely to planned development, plans are underway to create
awareness among locals on a diverse range of issues. Mr. V.P.
deputy director at the Rajsthan tourism bureau said that in
order to sustain tourism, parity has to be maintained between tourism
and environment. "Neglecting the environment would in the long run,
result in the decrease in tourist traffic, which would affect the
economy of Rajasthan, a development that the state can ill afford."
In Haryana the carrying capacities of different places are being
worked out and then dovetailed, if possible, with programmes that
are mutually attractive and beneficial for both the tourists and locals.
However, knotty problems still remain to be tackled, such as the
reduction (due to human ingress) of the habitat of the Indian black
buck once a star tourist attraction. The scrapping of the Rs. 50
crore Disneyland project in which some 4000 acres of forest reserves,
a hill top and prime land near Dandama lake would have beer.
swallowed for an amusement park, nas brought cheer to the
environmental lobby.
UP and HP have both seen in recent years the emergence of
environmental pressure groups and movements at the grassroot
level. Sunderlal Bahuguna, the acclaimed Chipko movement leader,
said the excesses of mass tourism must be countered. "Bhutan limits
tourists to less than 2000 a year. Why can't tourist numbers be
regulated in UP and HP as well?" he asks.
stations such as Mussoorie, which registered an estimated 30
per cent increase in tourist traffic over last year, and Shimla. are
dying -- choked by a surfeit of tourism.
The entertainment tax has come to stay in most states. Why not
an environment tax? Mass tourism cannot be wished away. Welcome
or unwelcome, it is here to stay. The search has already begun, but
in the years ahead, the northern states will have to find more
effective ways to keep alive their economies, places of interest and
the dreams of holiday makers alive.
The Economic Times, 2 August 1991
Over The Hill
Christopher Coleridge with Nabanita Dutt
"Even God could not solve the problems of Darjeeling," says an
aged schoolmaster and resident of the hill station. And he's not the
only person to feel this way about what was once termed the Queen
of the Hills. More and more locals and some outsiders as well
- are beginning to despair of Darjeeling. Not only have·civic facilities
completely broken down in the region, the prinCipal revenue-earners,
the tea and tourism industries, no longer bring in the kind of
did earlier. Consider the facts - and figures. Tea plantations
in the Darjeeling area numbered 102 in the Sixties. By 1987 the
figure had dropped to 85. The activities of the Gorkha National
Liberation Front (GNLF) and the resultant violence resulted in production
from 13 million kg/annum in '86 to 11 million in '87, with a crop value
loss of Rs. 2.5 crores.
Tourism was hit just as hard. In 1985, 1,40,000 tourists had come
to the hill resort; two years later only a handlful of people braved
the GNLF agitation to visit the region. As GNLF president Subash
Ghisingh got more and more aggressive, the authorities refused to
allow foreign nationals entry into the area, for security reasons. This
had an even more detrimental effect on the tourist trade.
A glimmer of hope was, however, held out when a compromise was
worked out between the Indian government and the GNLF. For long,
residents of the area had complained that matters could only
improve if the administration was given over to the locals. Finally
that demand was met in 1988, with the constitution of the Darjeeling
Gorkha Hill Council (DGHC). But if this move was expected to herald
a prosperous restructuring, the result proved to be rather disappoint-
Local officials, appear to be making little effort to make the lot of
the tourists easier. For instance, there appear to have been little hairs
lost over the taxi drivers' habit of grossly overcharging passengers.
It is not just taxi drivers who are greedy: 'worldliness' bas permeated
most of the population, and some see its growth as central to
Oarjeeling's problems. Says Ranjit Thapa, a local restaurant owner:
"The simplicity of the hill people has been swept away by greedy
young men filled with Western ideals." Others think that the rot set
in during World War II. when European soldiers were sent to
to recuperate for two months at a time. Attempting to
in any way they could, they created inflationary
pressures in the local economy.
Further discouragement to tourist traffic is provided by the civic
facilities that exist - or more accurately, do not exist - in Darjee­
ling. The condition of the roads, for one, is abysmal. It is even
rumoured that the taxi driver lobby is behind the terrible condition
of the roads. By paying the contractors small sums to keep the
quality of the work low, it ensures that roads are blocked more often,
resulting in longer detours and hence greater rewards.
place that projects itself as a tourist centre. Therf;! are now well over
1,00,000 people in the town proper, being served by a water
designed for 30,000. Taps often do not work and,
a trickle. The DGHC's proposal to construct an airstrip on
has invited great criticism on environmental grounds. Construc­
tion work on the hill side, it is feared, could cause landslides or
worse.
A recent estimate stated that over half the farmers were under threat
from landslides. The airstrip may harm the water-supply too, since
the seven foot deep tarmac necessary for the runway will stop water
being absorbed into the earth, water which in time runs down to
Senchal Lake. To make matters worse, deforestation is also rampant
in the region. This, in turn, has led to a decreased rainfall:
from exacerbating the water problem, this has caused harm to rare
local plants and adversely affected the oxygen supply of the region.
While forest cover disappears rapidly, the population of the area
seems to be increasing at an ever increasing rate.
A worrying result is a possibility of an outbreak of disease, especially
tuberculosis (TB). The number of people suffering from TB has shot
up of late. But instead of helping curb the spread of the disease
the authorities hide its very existence, for fear of scaring away the
tourists. It is thus left to such institutions as Hayden Hall, looked
after by Jesuits, to step into the breach.
Asks an angry priest, who helps run the centre: "If the
is so keen on bringing in the tourists why don't they improve the
appalling transport system by issuing more licences instead of taking
Marutis off the road because their drivers, though experts on hilly
roads, have no legal licence? If they ha.ve the good of the region
at heart, why don't they explore the possibilities of developing orange
orchards, which have as much profit potential as tea? Why don't they
build more schools and create jobs in the region?"
But then, even the tea industry is not in the best of the health. Profits
made thereof are rarely if ever reinvested in Darjeeling. It was
~,,, .... :,,,,h, this sort of situation that the Hill Council was expected to
But its performance has been far from satisfactory on this
score - as on most others.
One reason for this may well be its members' fear of Chairman
Ghisingh, which doesn't aid either communication or honest debate.
Queries relating to any financial matter, however simple, for instance,
cannot be answered without his express permission. Council members
are not alone in their paranoia: townsmen systematically refuse to
have their criticisms attributed to them by name, for fear of attracting
reprisals.
The DGHC defends itself by citing underfunding as the principal
cause behind its failure to transform Dajeeling into a model tourist
resort. The state government imparted to the Hill Council a veneer
of self-rule to wash its own hands off a region which was
to be a drain on its resources. The state government, for its part,
insists that the DGHC is guilty of gross mismanagement, hence the
sorry state of affairs in the hill-station.
And while the two sides trade charges, Darjeeling's dreams die fast.
- SUNDAY 8·14 September, 1991.
Sustainable Tourism Initiative
Integrated Tourism Services
Costa Rica is famous for its "green" thinking and has recently
received international attention as an "ecotourism" destination. Though
full of rainforest wildlife, it is also increasingly deforested.
Tourism is now the second largest foreign currency earner after the
banana industry. The country is new to tourism but the impact of
tourism on small communities and delicate ecosystems is begining
to be felt. In the face of a tourism boom, the country has become
split over what is appropriate tourism and how far to develop facilities
and sevices for tourists.
The government wants to develop small-scale tourism projects, but
is hemmed in by short-term economic need and forced to entice large
foreign investments. Despite much talk on conservation within the
Costa Rica's natural beauty may yet be tarnished bv the
sheer scale of future tourism.
Action must be taken immediately to prevent Costa Rica from
becoming an environmental theme park (rainforest land), a pale copy
of tourism in other countries. The natural environment can be
protected through careful, controlled use of tourism. Cultural life and
local diversity can be sustained. There must be thought and planning
before building. The benefits of tourism must outweigh the negative
fallout. Tourism must not kill tourism,
inviting people from Malaysia, South Pacific Islands and
The Eco Institute of Costa Rica has a vision for tourism in Central
America. It has created a think tank that brings together for the first
time government officials, private developers, community activists,
environmentalists, and the tourism industry. The think tank meets for
dialogue and constructive planning:
• How should Costa Rican tourism look in 2000?
• How to educate isolated communities about the change
tourism brings and what tourists want?
• How to prevent local people being overdependant on an
unpredictable tourism industry?
• How to solve land disputes when one group wants a hotel,
another a nature reserve and a third rice fields?
• How to do all this AND keep travelling and tourism fun?
The Eco Institute's pro-active think tank meets to influence government
policies; represent cOMmunities and conservation interests; coordinate
appropriate development projects; mitigate the negative impacts of
tourism (overuse of resources, crime, rising prices, prostitution,
overdevelopment, pollution, vanishing wildlife, crowded beaches,
social inequality); give marginal groups a piece of the action: and
radically change the Central American tourism profile. It aims to
make tourism a sustainable form of development and to provide a
viable model for the many other countries in Latin America who are
also turning to tourism as a way of curing economic ills.
The Eco Institute is a Costa Rican non-profit organisation. The
president is internationally-renowned environmentalist, Maurice
Strong, who is currently organising the 1992 UN Environment Confe­
rence in Brazil. The director of the Sustainable Tourism Initiative is
Dr. Deirdre Evans-Pritchard. Contact her at
Instituto Eco de Costa Rica, Aptd. 8080-1000 San Jose, Costa Rica.
10
Integrated Tourism Services (ITS) is a domestic and international
tourism consultancy firm. It offers a mix of business advice. policy
analysis. management consultancy. research. training and
education services.
ITS is an innovative response to the opportunities, problems and
dilemmas posed by new. existing and declining tourism indus­
tries.
ITS is not unthinkingly 'pro-tourism' - rather it adopts a balanced
approach to the tourism phenomenon. aware of the cost as well
as the benefits of tourism.
ITS takes the veiw that tourism, as with any form of develoment,
has the potential to enrich or harm the Jives of those touched
by
Accordingly, one of its prinCiple goals is to argue the need for
a much deeper understanding of the phenomenon.
ITS provides an analytical framework to guide tourism develop­
ment in ways which respect the environment, culture and
society of host communities whilst contributing positively to
economic development. profitability and the promotion of
employment.
ITS is headed by an internationa: tourism analyst and backed
by an inter-diSciplinary network of tourism conSUltants.
ITS will work in partnership with individual or institutional clients
on a wide variety of tourism-related initiatives.
ITS examines the complexities of domestic and international
tourism; identifies and prioritises issues; confronts problems and
sculpts a new tourism agenda relevant to future needs,
Highlights the economic costs and benefits which typically
accompany tourism development: offers a conceptual
framework and mix of services for tourism policy-makers at
various levels of government.
Looks at the important issues facing government planners as
overall tourists numbers grow - in terms of administration,
policy-making. evaluation of resources and the develop­
ment of specific modes of tourism.
Advises the aspiring entrepreneur; offers a range of manage­
ment consultancy services; appraises new projects and
conducts feasibility studies,
Focuses on the specific challenges facing tourism promot­
ers; assesses the planning of marketing: counsels on market
intelligence sources; consults on tourism images and con­
ducts market opportunities analysis.
Works towards a greater understanding of the positive and
negative environmental. cultural, social and political im­
pacts of tourism through a variety of educational, training
and consultancy packages.
Analyses the opportunities and threats tQurism can bring to
local communities; provides advice to community-led
tourism initiatives, rural and urban. and works to resolve
conflicts between locals and developers.
Provides a social-psychological framework of the tourist;
explores issues around growing consumer disenchantment;
looks at tourist behaviour and responsibilities: examines the
touristIlocal encounter.
Discusses course and curriculum design; training needs
assessments; tourism-executive programmes- tourism and
development education; study tours; training materials and
creative conferencing.
..::0.. Argues the need of more evaluative, policy-relevant tourism
research; looks at better management of "in-house" research
strategies; advises on academic sources and carries out
client-directed research.
- ITS ltd, Brae Street, Dunkeld,
Perthshire .PHS 08A Scotland.
Another fear is that uncontrolled green tourism will result in the
overcrowding and degrading of the same wilderness areas that
attracted visitors in the first place. One site, the January Lake, across
the Rio Negro from Manaus,is often cluttered with boats visiting giant
water lily pads. "Carrying capacity is the key word", said Silvana
Carnpello: a Brazilian biologist who administers programs in
Brazil for the United States' Nature Conservancy. " Eco tourism is
not the destination, but wilat you do when you get there".
But caveats not withstanding, most environmentalists said that
improves the prospects for survival of the forest. They
predict that tourists - foreign and Brazilian will create an informed
international constituency for its defence. "It is easy to sit in an air­
conditioned room and say, "We need to save the trees," Eugene
Aull, a tourist from New York, said as he relaxed from a river trip.
'There is incredible poverty down here. You have to aive them
something in return ."
Peter N Lahanas, a University of Miami biologist who served as tour
guide added, "These people are more informed, they will have a real
image when they get back. The next time someone knocks on their
door asking for money for the rain forest, they will give."
- New York Times, 19 May, 1991.
~~EIj~¥4
Thank you l'ely much for highlighting ollr Antarctica
in your recent issue of ANL. It is very close to our heart and
the definition of a Peace Park is carrying, we believe,
principles which could well be applied anywhere in the world
and help establish a link between grass root peoples who seek
to restore health to all the many diflerent relationships 'with
our natural environment. We see it as an ongoing venture and
vel)' much in harmony with the essential ideas of New
l'ow·ism.
Yes, as you will realise, we completely agree mass tourism
is poisonous to -the integrity of any people or country and
seems to stimulate greed, had taste and gluttony in both
visitor and host. Tourism is so closely linked with the policies
of local governments and industries as to how they develop
and exploit the country's /latural resources.
One thing is hecoming ahundantly clear, not just in Sarawak
and Malaysia hut in most other countries as well: there i:., an
inconceivably wide gap hetl1'een the text of glossy pamphlets
and reports on government policies with regard to forestry,
tourism, industrial waste and pollution PIc., assuring citizens,
visitors and customers of clean, green, caring and sustainable
management - and what happens in reality. More and more
howel'er, are beginning to feel that something is
seriously wrong, and enrironmentalists (scientists and doctors
among them) are alerting the world to the shortsighted,
and selfish wheelings and dealings with the earth's
natural resources and the shamefully unfair distrihution
them. Theory alld practice of government policies and com­
- Desai, Singh & Gonsalves (Advocates)
mitments are (~ften so far apart that you would not know,
unless actually told, that one was related to the other. Engineers House, 86 Apollo Street, Bombay-400 023.
7
One cannot help wondering !l some type qf UN peace keeping
force. men and women who were uniJiased und reliable and
acceptable to the family (~l nations could he estahlished to
guide, stlpel'l'is(! alld encourage right action in these matters,
thus lessening the gap betvveen theory alld practice, aspiration
and application. May be such a peace keeping force could
also serve as a hridge between governments, industries and
ell vironmentalists , 'who today can lend to slow up the process
of healing through long and mutually hur(/IJ/ confrontations.
Such a group might also provide the world with reliahle and
halanced information, which takes the whole siruaTion into
account and therefore presents each issue to the world's
people as openly and un-biased as possihie. Upon such
information decisions can be made which will serve and
henefit all and inspire everyone to participate in a corporate
thrust to put our house in order and make it heautiful. I think
everyone agrees that it is us, the people of the world, that
must bring changes about. However well intentioned a gov­
ernment might be, it cannot hring the promised changes
without the combined efforts of individual human beings
within all walks of life. So mayhe one day we shall he able
to arrange a 'new tourism' meeting here in New Zealand,
many other places. It is certainly an issue which touches so
many areas of society and could bring such blessings to
people's lives instead of tragedy as is now so often the
case. Let's see if such a meeting wants to happen!
GITABROOKE
Operation Peace Through Unity, 'Te Rang;', 4 Allison
Street, Wanganui 5001, New Zealand.
I am told that you have set up an alternative Tourism Nern/ork
where tourists interested in the social aspects of the various
movements in India contact YOll, and you work out for them
an alternative trail. I would he very interested in collaborating
with you on this because I find many tourists very sincere and
socially committed and we have had very positive experiences
when we put them in touch with social organisations and
activists groups. More particularly, if you would include us
in your nernJork, we could arrange to put persons who visit
Bombay in touch with various individu.als and groups in Ma­
harashtra and particularly, if the visitors are willing to live
in a particular m'eafor some time and work among the people
we can provide certain support structures for (his kind of
involvement .
Since we do a lot of public interest work we do need people
to work with activist grou.ps in various areas and, in the
process, draft puhlic interest petitions.
ll.vas therefore quite enthused when I heard about your efforts
ana I would like to know whether we can work together on
this.
COLIN GONSflLVES
for hundreds of years before the mainlanders came and claimed its
riches as their own.
that Filipinas, Thais and other Asian women employed as hostesses
Every day at about 9 am, the gleaming tour buses start to arrive
On Oct. 17 President Corazon Aquino dispatched a special mission
at the sea gypsy village on Rawaii beach. From the road, the village
to Japan to probe the Sioson case. Its leader, Labour Secretary
does not look much different from a Bombay slum, providing a
Ruben Torres, told Asiaweek that while the Filipinos met Japanese
perfect Third World photo opportunity: well-heeled tourists gingerly
government ministers, it was beyond their jurisdiction to conduct an
traipsing around patched-up huts and mounds of garbage, and in
official investigation.
their wake some grubby children, begging for money. As recommen­
As far as Japanese authorities are concerned, Sioson died of ful­
ded by a tourist publication, some tourists throw coins into the sea
minant hepatitis. Resulting from viral hepatitis, the disease is deadly
for children to dive after.
in 90% of cases. Complications include liver failure, delay in blood­
The village's official name, recently given by the government, is Baan
clotting and damage to the kidneys and nervous system. Patients
Thai Mai, or Village of the New Thais, which makes the villagers
often lapse into a coma.
indignant. Five years ago, the village was neither dirty nor so
But members of the Philippine mission said they found "several
crowded. But whole communities of gypsies from surrounding islands
noteworthy inconSistencies" in the hospital's laboratory charts, includ­
who lost their homelands to tourism have moved in. Without official
ing Sioson's fever pattern and coma scale. They also said records
documents to prove their claim, ignorant of their rights and fearful
given to the Philippine labour attache showed that Sioson was
of the authorities, they can be moved without much prompting.
attended to by a team of doctors from Sept. 7 to 14. But "no record
was ever submitted regarding the medical attention she received
The journey of the displaced gypsies might not end even here at
the Village of the New Thais. As Phuket land prices soar along with
from Sept. 11 to 14," said the mission's report, written by NBI
its status as an international resort, there are increasing signs that
medical-legal officer Floresto Arizala.
the gypsies are not welcome to remain. Lacking paper ownership,
they live here as tenants of Thai landlords, who are anxious to clear
the land and sell it to developers. No one who has lived more than
10 years on a piece of land can be forcibly evicted, but there are
official plans to move the whole village to an inland mangrove
swamp.
The village carpenter, whose house is ort the beachfront, has been
forbidden to repair it. He has the wood, stacked under the house
for years, and he has the tools, but he must live in the tiny lop­
sided house with four other people, until such time as he cannot
stand it any more, and moves away of his own volition.
During the monsoon, the village is turned into a stinking pond, its
livestock wallowing in knee-deep water, as natural waterways are
filled in and its once many paths to the sea and the main road are
closed off by brick walls on all sides. Drinking wells are polluted,
disease is rampant. There are walls even along the beach, making
it impossible to pull the boats up on the shore for safe-keeping when
the sea is rough.
"Now we have to unload our boats at the far end of the beach, where
the resorts are, but they get angry because they say our fish is smelly
and scares away their tourists", the villager said. "So here we are
inside these walls, like animals".
-PANOS
Brazil: Forests in the Balance
James Brooke
With "Green Tourism" expected to triple in the Amazon basin in the
1990's, environmentalists in the region's largest city are weighing its
impact on the fate of the forest. Aided by reports of farmers burning
the rainforest, the world's discovery of this isolated region is well
established. Visitors, largely Americans and Europeans, come to the
Amazon to fish for piranhas, study monkeys at tree tops and fall
asleep at night listening to choruses of jungle birds. Manaus, a
humid, riverfront city that stagnated after the collapse of the rubber
boom in the early 1900's, now ranks after Rio de Janeiro and Sao
Paulo as the Brazilian city with the most international air links.
6 11
Brazil's national tourism authority, Embratur, based in Brasilia, is
making nature tourism its priority this year, and Manaus hoteliers
plan to double the number of five-star hotel rooms to 3,000 by 1999.
The number of foreign tourists coming to Manaus had been growing
steadily from 12,000 in 1983 to 59,000 in 1989, before dropping last
year to 39,357 - a decline that has been largely attributed to the
country's economic disarray. The economy is expected to have little
impact on Manaus' tourism industry this year.
"Green tourism is a good thing, but not something you can count
on for protecting a lot of forest," said Philip M Fearnside, an
American ecologist who studies deforestation here at the National
Institute for Research in the Amazon. "Tourists find walking around
a few acres to be enough. That doesn't provide economic justification
for preserving hundreds of square miles of forests". Forming the
embryo of a powerful lobby, the number of Manaus travel agencies
catering to tourists quadrupled in the last five years to 67. By 1999,
tourism is expected to become the state's largest source of
international exchange.
"If we have a large contingent of people visiting the Amazon, ideas
will change," said Silvio Magalhaes Barros, President of Emamtur,
the state tourism authority. Aware of the growing tourism lobby,
Gilberto Mestrinho, the new governor of Amazonas state, has moved
away from the confrontational stands that the five other state
governors in Brazil's Amazon region often take on environmental
issues.
According to a recent study by the Organization of American States,
the number of foreigners participating in nature tours in the Amazon
basin, is expected to increase from 123,000 in 1988 to at least
375,000 by 1999. A poll of 436 international travellers at Latin
American airports, found that 47 percent cited nature destinations
as an important factor in vacation planning. Although tourism is
labor-intensive industry, some critics predict that its benefits will
bypass the Amazonians, either the Indians or the Caboclos •
peasants who fish and farm along the region's riverbanks. "All the
profits go out of the area, and the local communities are left by
the wayside," said Diana Propper de Callejon, Brazil's representative
to Cultural Survivial, an international organisation dedicated to
defending indigenous groups. "Local groups should be given invest­
ment shares in tour companies".
In one effort, a Manaus environmental group plans to train Cabaclos
to work as park guards and ecological guides in the Jau National
Park, a vast wilderness area 150 miles upriver from here. "The idea
is that the Cabaclos will depend on the conservation of the park,which
is the largest in Brazil," said Leonardo Lacerda, a planner with the
group, the Fundacao Victoria Amazonica.
WHAT KILLED MfiRICRISl
work in horrendous conditions and are often m~streated.
At 4 am on Sept. 13, says Leonora Sioson Pacheco, she was
awakened by a man pounding on the front door of her Manila home.
The man was from the employment agency that had arranged for
her younger sister, Maricris Sioson, 21, to work as a dancer in Japan.
Maricris, he reported, was suffering from hepatitis and had slipped
into a coma. Pacheco was shocked. But the news did not prepare
her for what she would hear the next night. The man came by again
at 1.30 am to tell her that Maricris had died.
The news threw the Sioson family into stunned disbelief. How could
their beloved, beautiful Maricris be dead? Five months earlier she
had left for Japan full of hope. As an "entertainer" at a karaoke bar,
she would be making $1,500 a month. Annualised, that would be
24 times the Philippines' per-capita GNP. She had written home only
once. Life as a dancer at the night club in Fukushima prefecture,
200 km north of Tokyo, hadn't turned out as expected. In the July
letter she complained that her salary was being held back. "I can't
stand the situation here any more," she wrote. "I want to go home.
All of us here want to go home. I might go crazy. Our life here is
hard."
On his return, Torres told a press conference that the Japanese
When family members saw Maricris' body, they began to question government was willing to help uncover the circumstances of Si­
the cause of her death. The bloated, disfigured corpse at the funeral oson's death. On Oct. 23, however, Japanese police declared the
parlour barely resembled the young woman they had seen off at the case closed. The Philippine consular office in Japan also came under
airport in April. The report of the Hanawa Welfare Hospital in fire. Staffers had issued statements from Siosan's Filipino co-workers
Fu~ushima, where Sioson passed away, said she died of "multiple
that no foul play was involved.
organ failure secondary to fulminant (suddenly developed) hepatitis."
Her relatives were sceptical. The employment agency had asked In Japan the case has highlighted the poor working conditions and
questionable labour contracts often foisted on Filipinas and other'
them to sign an affidavit waiving their right to request an autopsy.
They had agreed. But now they demanded one. The findings of an foreign women. The labour code for well-known foreign entertainers
does not apply to hostesses. Says Matsuda Mizuho, director of a
autopsy by the Philippine National Bureau of Investigation (NBI)
seemed to confirm their worst fears. Sioson, said the NBI report, had Tokyo women's shelter called House in Emergency for Love and
died of "traumatic head injuries" and had suffered a "massive" brain Peace (HELP): "The Philippines sends their women as 'entertainers'
haemorrhage. She also had what appeared to be stab wounds on but in Japan they're 'hostesses' many involved in prostitution." Help'
her right thigh and genitals. has provided shelter to 260 foreign women and four children this
year. The vast majority were Thai. But most women who call the
The findings were enough to hurl the death of Maricris Sioson on shelter for help are Filipinas, says Matsuda. Their complaints range
to the front pages of Manila newspapers. The Philippine consul­
from sexual and physical abuse to mistreatment and lower-than­
general in Tokyo, Jesus Yabes, revealed that Sioson was the 33rd stipulated salaries.
Filipino "entertainer" to die in Japan since January. He did not say
how they died. The Manila women's centre BATIS said the number Many bars in Japan are controlled by small-time gangsters. They
could be higher. The embassy's list. it noted, did not include "en­ bring in Thais and Filipinas to work as hostesses. Taking advantage
tertainer" Cecilia San Miguel, who died in June of a brain hemor­ of the women's language inability and cultural disorientation, employ­
rhage. An NBI autopsy reportedly found a contusion on her head ers often confiscate their passports and return air tickets and treat
and bruises on her body, although Japanese doctors said she them as virtual slaves.
suffered no such injuries. Sen. Santanina Rasul, head of the Philippine Senate Committee on
Women & Family Relations, has complained about the treatment of
Besides causing a minor diplomatic row, the Sioson case has
focused attention on the plight of cash-strapped countries that Filipinas by recruitment agencies in Manila. Rasul has called for a
depend on remittances from OV6rseas workers. It's also stirred up temporary ban on Filipino entertainers in Japan. Last week Labour
emotional debate over whether Filipinas should be banned from Secretary Torres met with recruiters, members of non-government
organisations and officials of government overseas-workers admini­
working abroad as bar hostesses. The Japanese embassy in Manila
said the club where Sioson worked "does not have a reputation as strations. They proposed that the cabinet impose a selective ban on
Filipino performers in Japan.
a prostitution spot." Still, it's suspected that many Filipino hostesses
in Japan are forced into prostitution. Earlier Torres, along with many Filipino contract workers, had come
Last year in Japan there were 40,000 legally recruited Filipino out strongly against a ban. Torres argued that the Philippines, with
"entertainers" known in the host country as "Japayuki-sans" ("Miss 4 million unemployed, can ill afford it. But for BATIS executive
Go-to-Japans"). It's estimated that, including illegally recruited ones, director Carmelita Nuqui, no price is too high if it means saving
there may be up to 90,000 in all. Japanese women's shelters report people's lives.
- Asiaweek, 29 November, 1991.
 several major projects have fallen flat.
need as it lacks basic facilities. The existing facilities are nothing
The Pacific Idea
it lost the Pacific war. In any case, the sums involved are not
for rich countries. A few million dollars goes a The Craig Nano project for the construction of an amusement park,
to write home about. Successive governments have followed a short­
is a case in point. Immediately after the project was announced, four
sighted, if not warped, tourism policy. Apart from Shimla and Manali,
The Pacific idea is important for the mental well-being of the
in the PaCific. The donor can always tell no town in Himachal is geared to meet the tourist demand.
world The Pacific idea stands for a belief in the survival of innocence.
the PaCific is "important for defence purposes". hectares of land was given to a favoured promoter who was sup­

The Pacific is not really innocent. but something

Leaders of the island states speak of the need for self-reliance, but posed to collaborate with the Himachal Pradesh Tourish Develop­
Said Steve Brown, an English tourist: "We have been fleeced
deeply attractive to the inhabitants of an increacinni\J
also say. defensively, that the islanders have a right to be ment Coroor'ation (HPTDC).
elsewhere in the country but nevel' like this." The tourist arrivals to
Trial society that has come to seem. somellow.
n'·''''''qd for their explOitation the former colonial cowers. Aid As Shanta Kumar sancttoned the project to the private promoter. the
Himachal have been showing a downward trend, the number of
Those who go tlere confirm its fabled reputation.
IS not mudl of an arournent in the real corporation contested the government's claim on the land. foreign tourists has only marginally increased because Shimla never
The chief minister then agreed to constitute a firm in vvhicl' the tails to evoke a nostalgia for the British Raj and is still quite popular
"No part of the world exerts the same attractive power the the iSlanders are ever with them, fleecing notwithstanding. But that charm is wearing thin
v;sitor." wrote Robert Louis Stevenson, who ended ii's ir a One story is that 011 the seabed HPTDC ;Yld the municipal corporation would have a shamholding
of 25 per cent each and the promoter the remaining 50 per cent. as the tourists, both domestic and foreign, find that Shimla is fast
in the Pacific. and died in Samoa. When S:8\fenSOn first minerals just to bE:) picked up. Another some~ into a concrete jungle.
the Pacific he felt he had escaped "out of tile shadow story is that the the waves and the sun could But two even before the firm could be constituted, he
of the Roman empire" He was now to see "wna] men migr:t Flbundant electriCity ilandecl over the property to the promoter, Piyush Goel. There was For several years the state government has been battling the Centre
whose fathers had never studied Virgil, had never been conquered no report and no clearance from the government agency that over the need for opening up the high-security defence zone of the
the sun and the sea that the Pacific islands do have in scrutinises tourism projects. Kinnaur region. The Centre has reportedly agreed to open up almost
by Caesar. and never been ruied by the wisdom of Gaius or ouantities should be of commercial value? Add to this the
Papinian." The fact that Goel had no experience in the construction of amuse­ 80 per cent of the Kinnaur area to foreign tourists but Shanta Kumar
and their agrefJable climate, Add in the Pacific is not happy: "everything or nothing" is his stance. His opponents,
The real Pacific. the proper Pacific, the one in the wO"Id's dream- forces beckon. Tourism calls. Tounsm, say its ment parks was of little concern to the chief minister. What perhaps
swung the deal was the man's political connections. However, Gael however, see a political reason behind his adamant stand - that
is made up of small islands, mostly in the South Seas. Some !hings it invites people to admire. But the Pacific he wants to obstruct the development of this area which had
are independent states, and remain more familiar to exception. in the places where tourism has been given could not turn the contract to his advantage as he was able to run
the park for just four months. He called it quits when the municipal constituted the erstwhile kingdom of the former Congress(l) chief
by their pre-independence names. Vanuatu, Kiribati has created a renaissance after what may be termed minister Raja Bir Bhadra Singh as he knows that the Centre cannot
Some are still colonies. Tahiti in French New Caledonia, Dark Ages. corporation went to court. Today all that is left of a project that was
to have given a big boost to tourism is the wreck of a vehicle at afford to concede his demand. Of course, he brushes aside the
American Samoa, Pitcairn, where descendants of the ?ounty still live. T;'le European explorers introduced western diseases to island­ chmQes as malicious and faise.
the site.
The very size ot the Pacific endangers it. People believe it can swiftly ers open to infection. The whalers of the southern seas kidnappec The lackadaisical stance of successive governments has hardly
consume anything dumped into it. A few miles off a shipping route women for use on their long voyages. But the main destroyers The fate of the other schemes has not been any better. The chief
minister had been rather keen on convertillg the historic Viceregal helped tourism in the state. But the cake goes to the previous
are in a place unobserved, unpoliced, as soliiary as the moon. of island culture appear to have been Christian missionaries, well­ Congress(l} which commissioned two detailed project reports on
can guess what ghastly, suppurating refuse from the industrial meaning tilOUgh they were. An 18th century French pllilosopher, Lodge in Shimla into a five·stm hotel. But it fell through because
01 stiff opposition and he had to be content with converting it into tourism potential at a cost of Rs. 80 lakh and left them to gather
states of the Pacific rim lies there, unackowledged and uncharted? Denis Diderot, had foreseen something of their impact. When the dust. It was thrown into the waste-bin when the BJP government
The Pacific's immensity persuaded western nations that it was a first accounts of Pacific life reached Europe, he pleaded that the a government guest house. Though he seems to go out of his way
to champion the cause of environment he has no qualms in took charge. Later Shanta Kumar ordered that a more grandiose
suitable testing ground for nuclear weapons. The Americans, islanders be left undisturbed to on with their seeminglY idyllic report be prepared on tourism to fulfil his dream of converting the
made Bikini uninhabitable, and the British, having decided that a eXistence. for a highly controversial cement plant at Darlaghat by r'o.!!ch·,1'1 a
wildlife sanctuary spread over a hundred square kilometres. Mean­ state into the subcontinent's Switzerland. At that time many had
place called Christmas Island deserved a better future, no longer test The Pacific remains one of the most Christianised regions of the dismissed it as ludicrous. Later events have not proved them wrong.
their weapons there. But the French are still letting off their terrible while, tourism projects on all the hydel project sites have conie to
world. The churches are closely involved with Pacific life. Numerous a standstill following the chief minister's decision against pouring - The Week, 4 August 1991.
squids underground in Mururoa, an unkind fate for a coral island. Pacific politicians are churchmen, and church laws find their way into money into areas that were not yieiding returns. Says he: What is
Again, the immesity of the Pacific encouraged fishing fleets from isiand laws But the church's influence is being modified by secular
Taiwan, South Korea and Japan to introduce what has come to be aClvitles. Tourism is one of these, as Fiji's General Sitiveni Rabuka
called the "wall of death". This is a net, miles long, which has discovered. After his double military coup in 1987 the general,
the use of pouring in scarce funds in a losing area?"
Tourism officials however talk of some 50 projects that are on the Sea Gypsies Beached
!ng Kajanavanit
down in the ocean trapping not only fish but seabirds, dolphins, even a Methodist, insisted that Fiji virtually close down on Sunday. This anvil. Among them are the ropeway projects and water sports
whales. After cries from the Greens and others, [he fishing fleets impractical decree had to be relaxed, and is now largely complexes. There is also an ambitious project to develop water Only four years ago, amidst the fanfare of "Visit Thailand Year",
they are going to use less deadly nets, or may scrap this Tourism in Fiji could not function otherwise. launch facilities, gliding and rafting at various locales and similar tourism was widely promoted and perceived as a get-rich-quick
of fishing altogether. schemes for the tribal belts alollg the Manali-Leh route. But the economic cure-ail or, in the words of the Tourism Authority "the
If you ignore the Benidorm wasterlands holidaymaking - the true commissioner of tourism, Dr. A.K. Basu, was candid enough to admit without smoke chimneys" - money for free.
May be the islands should not be blamed for tourism is the most pleasant industry in the world. It is based on that work has not been initiated on any of these projects. All that
brothers in the rest of the world are doing: it is a the gracious tradition that has evolved into the gentle art of fleecing, tourism, though classified as a light service industry, is
has been done is a study on tourism development perspective, which
nations thought their territories ended three nautical miles off shore. it is practised with decorum, so that the guest does not feel cheated, firmly tied to the property and construction business - a heavy
is likely to be published in a month's time.
All the same, claimillg these grandiose areas may be a sign that merely that there has been an exchange of gifts. This is because industry, represented less by glittering temples and swaying palms
the islands are living in a world of their own imagination rather than the simple ingredients of a trip, the sun, the beaches, the good air, The controversial privatisation idea of Shanta Kumar might have its than by giant cranes, land speculation and massive bank loans.
facing reality. the legends of the place, appear to be free, although they amount bright aspects but serious thought was not given to the ground
realities. It is being opposed by a section of the bureaucrats who At worst, many people's idea of the ills of tourism is dirty beaches.
The reality is that they are poor. The typical island state is small to an expensive. consumer product. But for the residents of Phuket, a popular tourist destination in
believe that privatisation will not succeed because of two factors.
and it has few natural resources. Trade with other islands is also Tourists are, in the main, sympathetic people not exploiters, not First, the state government is not willing to offer to private entre­ southeast Thailand, unSightly waste is among the least of their
small because what one island can offer, the products of subsistence whalers, not missionaries. For months, perhaps years, they have preneurs incentives such as sales tax exemption or concessions in worries.
farming and fishing, the other islands have already. Such things as been looking forward to the trip. Now the moment has come. What land or electricity. Secondly, the law of the land allows only local The people of Phuket have to contend with fresh water shortage,
interest the world beyond the islands palm oil and copra, for the visitor sees within the jurisdiction of a hotel may not be quite to buy land in the state. More than 80 per cent of the overcrowding, lack of recreation spaces for locals, the privatisation
example -- compete with big producers elsewhere in the tropics. to the taste of those who seek "the real thing". The dancing girls is protected as class 111 forest land which cannot be distributed
With a tiny domestic market, an island has little inclination to develop pur on a performance which is only a shadow of the !ory-Iory that of public beaches, the spread of sex tourism to once quiet villages,
by the state government without clearance from the Union environ­ noise pollution, traffic congestion, soaring land prices and, worst of
even light industry. Herman Melville described. They may not even be local, but imported ment ministry.
from Manchester or Tokyo: because of the Chiristian influence, the all, the highest cost of living in the Kingdom, caused by tourism­
The islands depend on aid. The island states have not had much The opponents of Shanta Kumar also fault him for induced inflation, which squeezes out smaller tourism entrepreneurs.
difficulty in persuading outsiders to pay up. Some donors, such as island girls tend to be shy about nakedness. But they do their best
to please, just as the island girls did when Captain Cook rowed to develop tourism in -areas which might not Even qovernment schools are threatened with removal by powArflJ1
Britain and Australia. are former colonial powers, still wonderinq attractive by private entrepreneurs. For the current year,
whether they should have allowed these dots on the map to go ~ ashore from the t:ndeavour. developers. The village school on Kata beach, for instance, is
crore has been allocated for tourism which might just be
alone. Japan, seemingly ever ready to listen to a hard-luck story, may No one pretends that, for islanders, working as a waiter or a gone, replaced by Club Mediterranee. Perhaps the worst affected are
to meet the establishment expenses. Even if Shanta Kumar
feel a nostalgia for the thousand or so Pacific islands it ruled until chambermaid is a iovous life. But it is better than work in a third- to attract tourists, the state would be in no position to cater to the oriainal inhabitants of Phuket, the sea gypsies, who lived here

12 5
 the beach as it was meant to be, they could continue doing
business with unrestricted seaview and perhaps would do better from
all the extra people spehding more time at the beach". Sunset Rock
was always apopular spot fortourists enjoying the magic of abeautiful
sunset. Today the rocks are almost inaccessible. And, if one reaches
the vantage point inspite of the arrack shop and the drunks hanging
around, it is difficult to stay there long enough to see the sun setting,
with all the filth.
"Sunset rocks have become lavatory for the hutment dwellers and
the garbage dump for all those hutment restaurants," said Salladeen,
manager of a local hotel and a Kovalam native. Sea Rock Beach,
is the only sandy stretch remainig for the 'non-ITDC class'tourists.
Another major problem is the lack of public toilet facilities, even at
most of the restaurants. Kovalam just doesn't make it easy for the
tourist. For instance, there is no tourist Information centre, not even
an area map or bus schedule to help the tourist. Kovaiam post office
is over three kilometres away from the tourist area. In fact, around
the bus terminal there isn't even a mail box or a coin operated public
telephone booth.
Besides the major hotels, there isn't anywhere for the tourist to cash
money. The availability of the facilities in these hotels is not
made known to the predominant "non-five star" tourists and consequently
many tourists, out of sheer necessity, resort to the illegal exchange
of money. "A tourist police force was promised by the previous
government," said Salladeen, "but we haven't seen it yet". Such
policing might help keep the "money changers", hotel touts, pimps,
drug pushers and other undesirable elements away from tourists.
Other complaints regarding Kovalam are antisocial activities such as
prostitution and illegal drugs. Also the fact that pipe water supply
end at Sea Rock Beach and Hawah Beach hotels and restaurants
offer weI! water to its guests. Several sources, who were reluctant
to be quoted, said that urine and garbage seep into these wells and
there are literally hundreds of dysentery cases treated in Kovalam
the tourist season.
"treatment" and this illness is
rid of stray dogs and
IMllthMiC'orl encroachments of the beaches, restricting areas for
tiding basic necessities like clean bathrooms, tourist
Infnrmation and communication facilities are just some of the immediate
im!,\I'Vt"lnt necessities to save Kovalam before it's too late.
- Indian Express, 6 October, 1991.
Chile: Sacred Ground Exploited
problems. The growing awareness of environmental issues in Africa
Recently I lived on Easter Island for a year and found that there
is excessive exploitation going on there. I worked briefly with the
President of the Council of Elders, a group of natives formed of one
representative from each of the 36 original island families. He was
preparing a plea to the outer world for
The occupation by Chile, 100 years ago, has never
for EaSler Island. None of the agreements were lived
~inal contract which was signed by force.
revolution, but want just treatment. Their is threatened in
numerous respects. One being their own President Pinochet
of Chile, has been trying to gain leaal title deed to the entire
except for the village area.
I have filed a report with the United Nations Human Rights Com­
mission in Geneva proposing that the Council of Elders be given the
4 13
riQht to exist under law and be heard by their sovereign nation, Chile.
There are further proposals in the report which could shed light on
other sources of exploitation. . infinitely expandable. A holel creates business for a lot of other
The governor, a Pinochet-appointed man, allowed
on three giant stone statues (moais) in June of 1988,
damaged them. After knowing of the damaae. he
have yet another cast. Shortly ther
remove a massive amount of rock, in collaboration with
Services of Chile (CONAF) near the most extensive archaeloaical
site, the quarry, Rano Raraku. This is madness; there would
be many archeological treasures there, as there are many petro­
that area and it was the main activity Genter during the
Era on the island. The Council of Elders was outraged, but
had no recourse, as they have no legal say about anything. The only
can 'do is bring lawsuits to be heard, which is expensive
no income.
governor holds a permanent position as director of the Island
Museum. One native islander entrusted an original artifact to hi2
museum and never saw it again. The Easter Islanders are very aware
that their island has lost, unfairly, most of what they consider their
sacred relics. they even believe that their island, as a result of this,
has been stripped almost completely of her mana (their word for
supernatural powers). Every native islander still believes today that
the moai were moved from the quarry to platforms allover the island
via mana. The varying theories scientists have claimed as "solutions
to the Easter Island Mystery" may be as feasible as the
legend. The islanders deserve to have their sacred relics returned,
and to gain the right to protect their heritagE
Since the report has been filed with the UN Human
I have been informed that Chile is working in collaboration
with Club Med to take over the beach of Anakena. This is one of
the most prestigious archeological sites in the world and the only
beach the islanders may enjoy (there is only one other, tiny beach).
Club Med would provide all of its own staff and keep the beach
exclusively for its members. Thus, the island would not benefit at
a!1 from this invasion, except to sell a few more moal carvings. The
beach is also considered sacred to the islanders because their
original ruler, King Hotu Matua, first set foot on that location when
he first landed. To this day islanders do not like too many noisy (,
disrespectful activities happening there.
Keeva Kroll, Seattle, USA (Cultural SUivival Quarterly, 13(3), 1989.}
HAVEN Srinand
OF Jha HASSLES
Here is God's plenty: lush-green valleys, rocky ravines, flower­
decked meadows and snowtipped mountains to thrill the most fastidious
tourist. The terrain is rich with people of exotic cultures and lan­
guages. Yet the tiny Himachal Pradesh is still waitina to be discov­
ered by travellers from distant shores.
a tnougnt to developing
Shanta Kumar of the BJP was
brimming with ideas' when he took over as chief minister. He kept
the tourism portfolio with himself and went ahead with plans for
revolutionising the very face of tourism. He has found the public
sector a great put-off and his one big dream is to privatise the tourism
sector and to make it the leading industry. But even before he could
get off the starting block, controversies started plaguing him and
world clothing factory, a lot better than having no means of earning
money at all. An especially good thing about tourism is that it is
businesses, taxis, restaurants, souvenir-makers, guides. Every digit
added to the GOP means less reliance on the begging bowl called
aid. And fostering tourism will make for a cleaner Pacific. It is
Dossible to visualise it eventually as a huge park, a watery wilderness
which even the French will decline to test their bombs. It will no
be in danger of becoming an industrial dump. It will be nearer
Eden encountered by Bougainville.
The tourism that exists in the Pacific has produced mixed results
commercially. Tahiti is expensive compared with, say, Hawaii. New
Caledonia is still associated with rebellion. Fiji has had the bad
publicity of its military coups. The insurrection in Bougainville has
cast a shadow over both Papua New Guinea and the Solomons. In
the minds of those thinking about holidays, the Pacific may not seem
all that peaceful.
This will pass. The now famous tourist area of South-East Asia,
based on Singapore, Bangkok and Hong Kong, took years to come
to flower. Island leaders, juggling their tiny budgets, may be appalled
by the cost of building hotels and the infrastructure that goes with
them. But not every place wishes to be a Miami; and the numbers
coming to the Pacific will not, by Miami standards, be huge. The
appeal of small remote islands is that they are small and remote.
P..--otectiV\9 Pa~adise
David Dahmen
stretches of unspoilt beaches, Muslim architecture and a
mix of African and Arab cultures, Zanzibar is a tourist
company's dream. So far, however, only the backpackers have found
their way to this Indian Ocean paradise 320 km off the coast of
Tanzania. This is set to change. About 30 international hotel chains,
having explored every beach from Pattaya in Thailand to Mombasa
in Kenya, have applied for building permission. Like many Third
World countries, Tanzania desperately needs foreign exchange and
tourism is a sure way of getting it.
Tourism contributes a mere 5% of the island's gross national product
and employs 6000 people. The administration plans to boost it to
15% of GNP a year about US$3 million to US$4 million a year
- by 2000. With some of the most beautiful coral islands already
leased, there were signs that Zanzibar would become another example
of unplanned tourism with all the associated environmental and social
may have saved it from that fate.
Abdulrahman S. Issa, director at the Department of Environment in
Zanzibar, says: "We realised that we had to pull the emergency
brake. Otherwise we could have had the wnole fragile ecosystem
spoiled. We have seen what has happened to the Kenyan coastline,
where tourism is a serious threat to the environment." Zanzibar has
a rich heritaae: it is the cradle of the Swahili culture, a rich mix of
and Indian cultures. It was populated long before the
arrival of the first Egyptians, Phoenicians and Persians thousands
of years ago.
Once, the slave trade provided its main source of income. Since then
the 640,000 inhabitants, including those of nearby Pemba island,
have lived mainly by spice exports and some fishing. But world prices
for the main export, cloves, have fallen. Some of the hotel chains
seeking approval to set up in the island such as Italy's 8aganza
If the Pacific rim countries do prosper as they expect, investment,
large or small, should not be the main problem. The main problem
may be the islanders themselves. The next paragraphs may offend
them.
The Pacific islanders have to change their ways. They suffer from,
to use a polite word, inertia. The basic needs of life are available
with minimum effort. Nobody need go hungry. There are fish in the
lagoon and almost anything grows in the climate of perpetual
summer. The biggest effort may be deciding what to do with the day.
Those who believe that life must offer more find their ambitions
stifled by the confines of a small island.
The outstanding virtue of the islanders is
aoodwill. However, even this may be a mixed
not grumble
In October last year George Bush was in Hawaii and saw a
delegation from the island states, the first time an American president
had agreed to such a meeting. Mr. Bush had cleared a whole day
for the islanders,prepared to endure a long list of well-founded
complaints about the way the Pacific was mistreated, the most
immediate one being the use of Johnston Island for the destruction
of chemical weapons. It was a chance to shout a bit and get world
attention for everything that the islanders grouse about among
themselves. And what happened? " We wish you love," their leader
said. Nice for a weary president. Charming. But a bit feeble.
- The Economist 16 March, 1991.
Group and the Aga Khan Development Fund have already leased
land. Others are buying land in anticipation that the sites will
eventually fetch high prices.
All these proposals are being carefuily scrutinised for their possible
impact on water use, sanitation, the environment and culture as part
of a new policy on environment and tourism. Some of the new hotels
would like to offer the tourists every facility within the compound,
and supply most things, including workers, from abroad. An Italian
hotel chain has even planned its own private airstrip for direct flights
from Europe.
But the administration is insisting that the hotel companies commit
themselves to use as much local manpower as possible as well as
raw materials and food from the island. Another concern is how to
protect the environment from the impact of the tourist industry.
Tourists come mainly to swim in the crystal clear sea, but also to
watch the marine life a1 the magnificent coral reefs and, if possible,
to take a piece of coral back
Issa says: "There is a big risk that a growing number of tourists will
rbm!:l"a the fragile reefs. The reefs have a greater number of
species than the rain forests. They are also immencail,
imMrtant to the fishing industry ofthe island." Most tourists visit
in small boats piloted by local fishermen. These boats anchor
up on the reefs using old chipped stone as anchors. Strong currents
make the anchor roll over the reefs, causing considerable damage.
The main threat 10 the reefs may be from oil and waste .
Issa says: "Pollution can make them stop growing. The silt washed
into the sea from excavation for the new beach hotels will, if we
are not careful, smother the corals,which need light to grow." The
new tourism and environment policy plans controlled development
zones to protect marine life.
The last remaining natura! forest in Pemba island is also at risk if
plans to build a large hotel compound in the middle of the 200
hectare forest reserve go ahead.
- Panoscope 23 March, 1991.
 Thailand's Casino Bet
which will contribute to the earning of foreign exchange
idea of setting up a casino in Thailand has been talked about
fOi many years and promoted by gamblers and politicians who claim
that the country has lost a huge :3mount of money by passing up
the idea. !t has been asserted that every year, Thai citi78ns t8ke
B 11,52 billion out of the country for gaml;ling. But strong OOr.lOSltlon
from many quarters has always nipped any t~ians in the bUG
lega! casino gambling may be a
Thai entrepreneurs and other parties whose identities have not
been disclosed stand to
It has been hinted from time to time that Thai businessmen
to open casinos along the Lootian
border and the Burmese border. Severai such attempts
idea into a reality are now underway, with the most likely candidate
for success a project located on a Burmese island In the Golden
Triangle owned by a Suphan Buri businessman with connectlons to
the Chat Thai party. Prasit 8hodisuthon, president of Vitavas Inter­
national Company, will neither admit nor deny that a casino will be
set up in his company's Golden Triangle Paradise Resort. Mr Prasit
is wary that publicity willi attract criticism. Already, even the vague
reports of the project inspired Australian police to warn last year
that a casino could easily serve as a money laundering center and
forward base for drug traffickers in the notorious Golden Triangle.
Sources within the Golden Triangle and other evidence confirm that
a casino will be built on the Burmese island site. Even jf it had
the will to do so, there is nothing the Thai government can do about
the project but keep an eye on it.
Press reports say the contract was signed at the site in December
of that year by the Burmese Commerce Minister David Abel, and
Mr Prasit on behalf of a group of Thai businessmen. Also in
attendance, these accounts say, were Chiang Rai governor Banasith
Salabsaeng, and then-deputy foreign minister Prapas Limpabandhu,
who also served as a witness,
The company has leased almost 3,000 rai for a 30-years period from
the Burmese government. The site will house a 300 room hotel, a
business and trading complex, an 18-hole golf course, a shopping
center, a helicopter pad, a hovercraft dock, gardens, an arena and
a hospital.
What attracts particLlar attention is that Mr Prasit is confident that
the hotel can be opened for service by end of this year, or early
next year at the latest.
"The rental fee for the concession area is US $30 million for a
30 year period, and the company has to pay tax to the Burmese
government when the project starts producing income", Mr Prasit
conferences.
reveals. But because this is a 100-percent foreign- owned invest­
Provision will also be made for parking cars, restaurants, rest places,
ment, the government reduces the tax by half to only 15 percent.
picnic spots, parks and recreational facilities, Craft centres, shopping
The project will also enjoy a tax holiday for its first eight years"
comp:exes and an amphitheatre are also planned.
Mr Prasit says that the total investment cost for this project is about
All these facilities will be set up at a distance ot at least 4 km from
83 billion and the entire project should be cornpleted in 1995. He
brags that the terms of tile contract make the 3000-rai site his virtual
fi~fdQ!')1, where his word is fiat. High-r::ml-i,
,'adiiJs h}fil the f1IOiil.dTlents ~vill be disailowed so as tc ITlaintain the
said to be very enthusiastic about the
ecological balance of the project area.
followed the progress of construction.
14
It was the Burmese government that asked permission from the Thai
Interior Ministry to open a temprary check point at Ban Wang lao to
construction materials to the project site in Burina. The
Interior Ministry approved the opening for two years, ending in 1993.
It is not yet known what kind of approvals vvill be needed for travellers
when the resort ·opens.
Another indication ihal ~l;lfmrt smiles on the prOject is the contractuai
clause that tnat ilO concessicns will be granted tor construction
li1ilhin a 100-mile radius for the ~eriod the
Mr. !'ras:i that t'i8 first made \I;!ith Burmese offcials
when he applied for :;onc8ssion under nnrne f"ric.lencilai
Suphan Buri Company. It had been reported that YO: the
was to come from 8urma's irVe,:;Tment Cornr(jis~J'On.
according to Prasit this venture With a
Japanese company whOSe name ;·18 declined tu revBal.
Other SOiJrces suggest that Mr. Plasit has received funding from
several sources, includinf.l the qambling kingpins of Mac8u, who
intend to hedge their bets wilen the Portuguese enclave is returned
to China in eight years time. Mr. Prasit declined to discuss this.
To minimize any possible adverse effects on the Burmese monetary
systems, visitors to the resort will only be allowed to use currencies
other than the Burmese Kyat. As for security concerns, Mr. Prasit
says he will set up a team of one Of two hundred guards. "It wiil
be like a task force," he says.
Some Chiang Rai residents are hopefui that the project will benefit
the tourism industry in the province, which is already well-known for
its natura! beauty and serenity,
"Villagers here are pleased to hear about this project," says Phariot
Moraha, the kamnan of Wiang sub-district, Chiang Saen district.
"They don't think that the project will lure them into something bad.
They think in terms of economics. Villagers normally don't have
money to gamble in the casino. Casino players must have
hundreds of thousands of baht to play."
ThirdGJQba~:C:~n9r~ss. Honolulu.. ''., ". ' , .,>
About SO~d"~ptelft()m,.~~countrlesmetduring Noyemb~r<;
. 3~8. 1991)tQr:ff1e~~()fni~HQpd$ tor.Quanty Tqudsm"CQJ)gre~s .
OtfleritagelnteiprefCltion Inter~tiOnQt A ~ocurru!mtterm~
'TheHon()fUt~;~rter'1 e'nclofslngtherOles'· of herlt(Jgeil'lt.,r~
pretotiOI'\~~J!)re"'lVatlonJn qUOlltytouri$mex~rjenot$.·'·
.' was drotteClbYtl1e <;ongre$sond is belngtronlmitte,dtothe •.
United Natl9n$with (ff"flliit ot 5ignatQiies~ . ..
The Power of Images: Matkefing Tourism in the
Adith Kumar owns a hotel on Light House Road, just off Hawah
1990's London.
Beach. He said, "In mid-1989, the State Government clamped down
This 2-day conference to be held in Roehampton, on J,and 4
on the unauthorised encroachement of the beach and a demolition
September 1992 involves key personnel from tourism busi.
squad arrived on the site. But, alas, politics got the best of sanity
ness cmdeducotion considering issues affecting the future of
and the hutment owners, through the local MLA, who was then a
marketing tourism. It is intended for all those involved in
tourism/leisure - lecturers, tour operators, tourism boards;
NGOs. studonts etc. For further Information contact: Or. John
Eode, D!gbV Stuart Collegs, RCGhompton :nstltute,Roehamp­
effect.
ton Lone. LondonSW 15 SPH. Tel: 081·876·8273.
According to Kumar, tile demolition would not hlil1 anyone, He s'aid,
~~IIjut4 E~
Vaijayanti Kulkarni
world famous AJanta and Ellora caves will soon have a new
look. Thanks to the Japanese government which has extended its
cooperation to preserve this ancient monument
Buddhism has tor long been practised in Japan. This may be the
raRson why a Japanese institution has come forward to conserve
tnese monuments which beautifully depict scenes from the life of
Buddha. Trle Ajanta caves are renowned for their mural paintings.
The C3ves (200 BC to AD 700) are endowed with beautiful wall
paintings, a perfect specimen of Indian art.
Though unique, the Ajanta-Ellora caves do not attract as many
foreign tourists as some other popular destinations in India, such as
TaJ Mahal in Agra or the beaches of Goa. This is mainly because
the government of India has always concentrated on the northern
Golden Triangle. Another reason being the poor infrastructural
1cilities available at Aurangabad.
However, a large number of domestic tourists visit these caves,
which are not yet surrounded by unhealthy commercial activities. But
with the ravages of time and tourism, they are in danger of being
lost forever. Smoke, dust and the centuries old preservative coats
have obscured some of the Ajanta paintings. The necessity
to preserve these caves and upgrade their surrounding was felt to
ensure that the great heritage is properly preserved and the tourists
experience is more aesthetic.
With this thought, Maharashtra Tourism Development Corporation
has prepared a project report to implement the conservation of these
monuments. The state government has given the green signal for
this ambitious project.
The package for development includes conservation of Ajanta and
Ellora caves by modern chemical treatment to prevent deterioration
and help preserve and enrich the environment of the region through
massive afforestation. Also on the anvil is a plan for the all round
development of the surrounding countryside through better railway
network, better and wider black-topped roads, improved water supply
~nd sewerage, supply of electricity, modern eiectronic telephone
;changes and telex services. The project also envisages the setting
up of reception centres for visitors and provision of allied facilities
such as landscaping, battery-operated car coaches and shuttles to
reduce pollution, training courses for guides and computerised
management of tourists arrival, stay and departures.
The facilities will also include a
standard. An institute for study of rock-cut caves and sculptures will
also be set up. Besides, there will be meditation centres, viharas
and facilities for scholars and hails to hold lectures, seminars and
the Ajanta caves so as not to disturb the tranquility and serenity
of the monument. Industrial and other activities within specified
A light and sound show at the famous fort of Daulatabad will also
be introduced. The proj8ct is expected to give a massive thrust to
3
for the country. It will also augument the development of the
economy in this area. The project is expected tb add to the employment
potential for local youths and will give boost to the local arts and
crafts such as Paithani sarees, Himroo shawls, Bidri works and the
like.
The total cost for this project which will be executed in two phases
works out to Rs. 195.614 crore. Or the total cost, the state
government w:11 share Rs. ~ 39.73 crore, the centre will contribute
Rs. 32.88 crore anc the private sector Rs, 23 crore.
For the first phase of the project which will commence in 1 the
Overseas Economic Cooperabon Fund (OECF) of Japan has
an outlay of Rs. 75.658 crare by way of soft loan of
yens carrying a nominai interest rate of 2.6 percent to be refunded
over a period of 30 years, including a moratorium of 10 years.
The loan will be advanced by OECF under bilateral agreement to
be entered with the Government of India ~nder the aegis of Aid
India Consortium, comprising 13 advanced countries and international
financing organisations, which recentiy announced in Paris a loan of
$6.7 billion for various development projects in India including the
Ajanta-E lora Tourism Development Project
The outlay for the second phase of the project which will commence
in 1994 is about Rs. 120 crore. The total outlay of the state
government for the first and second phases of the project during
eight five-year plan period will be Rs. 102.85 crore, The remaining
expenditure of Rs. 36.88 crore will be provided in the ninth five-year
plan. The project is expected to be completed by 1998.
- The Independent (Bombay) 14 October, 1991
PARADISE LOST
Sally Mathew
If Chester Bowles ever had Mahabali's 'granted wish' and could
return to Kovalam today, there wouldn't be any "athapoovu" or
'nirapara' to greet him. Instead, he would see hundreds of vendors
and stray dogs! The 'paradise on earth' that Bowles found on the
sands of Kovalam beach is going fast and so is the beach
itself, taking the tourists with it!
Hawah Beach, the gOO-metre stretch between Vizhinjam lighthouse
and Sea Rock Beach, was once a sparkling sandy beach with the
lighthouse point and sunset rocks serving as a beguiling backdrop.
That beach does not exist anymore. In its prace is a gOO-metre row
of rickety and unsightly huts housing over 24 restaurants and 10
shops. Now, if you need to go from Sea Rock Beach to the
lighthouse you must either walk in the water or throuah the inside
of several restaurants.
minister, and the local Panchayat member managed to get a 'stay'
and the demolition squad was sent away". The stav still remains in
"the owners of most of these hut-restaurants and shops own the
property behind too, If they would move back to th:::ir property,
by then local politicians with an eye on the potential vote-bank had
got into the act. The Gujjars were persuaded to stick on.
tion, and safeguarding the valuable acquifers that exist along the
Like the Gujjars, the elephants have been locked into the national
park. While the elephant population is on the rise, the fragmentation
of habitat with the growth of cities and townships means that the
pachyderms are no longer free to roam around northern India in
search of fodder and water. Desperate for food and made ill­
tempered by the restricted space, the elephants have begun marauding
villages and fields in search of fodder.
The elephants could be free to move about again if the Uttar Pradesh
government speeds up work on the creation of two corridors through
which the elephants could move in and out of Motichur, Chilla and
further to the Kansrao and Lansdowne forests.
For centuries, people have lived in forests without disturbing the
ecological balance. Many tribal cultures have evolved religions and
lifestyles based on animalistic and naturalistic traditions. The natural
resources of the forest have served the tribals well, and on their part
the tribals have not exploited these resources. But the growth in
population and the simultaneous rise of cities and townships have
been at the cost of our forests.
Poor as they are, the Gujjars have so far not fallen into the clutches
of unscrupulous timber merchants. But in Haldwani, the villagers
have learnt long ago that it is far more lucrative to cut a tree and
sell it to timber merchants from Bombay and Delhi than slog it out
in the fields for Rs 30 often less, a day.
Forest officals complain that they simply do not have the means
to throw the book at the timber mafia operating in Haldwani.
Rangers have neither guns nor wireless sets. Nor do they have the
power to confiscate vehicles as is done in Karnataka. According to
the Indian Forest Act 1927, timber poachers are let off after paying
a fine of 20 times the value of the wood apprehended. "We can only
slap on a fine, which is always paid in hard cash. Chances are
that within a month we will catch the same gang taking wood out
in the same truck" bemoans an official.
the record, forest officials also claim that there is a nexus
between the timber mafia and the police, timber mafia and politicians
and the timber mafia and forest officials. Rumour has it that postings
in such police chowkies as Rehar thana in Bijnor distict where timber
poaching is rampant, don't come cheap and the police is willing to
cough up substantial amounts of money to get these plum postings,
as they are confident they wiil soon recover their initial 'investment'.
Politicians too are chary of getting on the wrong side of the timber
mafia, which has proved to be extremely generous during election
Haldwani, which comes under the Nainital constituency, has
been the hunting ground of such stalwarts as the former Uttar
Pradesh chief minister, Narain Dutt Tiwari. And even he has been
or unwilling, to stem the rot.
It is more difficult to prove a collusion between forest officials and
timber poachers. Officials young and idealistic, or foolish enough
to apprehend poachers and try and put an end to the illegal practice,
have learnt the hard way that it is perhaps better to em ulate the
three monkeys in the popular story that saw, heard and spoke no
movement, unless we recognise the right of animals to live and roam
evil.
freely in sanctuaries and national parks, we are going to rapidly be
Given that in most cases they are helpless to stop timber poaching,
converted into a wasteland. No amount of legislation is going to
it is not surprising that some forest officals resigned to the system
stop the slide downward, but, perhaps, it is still not too late.
will accept an inam for looking the other way. The stakes are
high enough for the timber poachers to be generous with obliging
- SUNDAY 3·9 NOVEMBER, 1991.
2 15
officials.
The pahadi villages are inhabitated mainly by women, children and
old men. The breadwinners have moved to big cities in search of
lucrative jobs, often working as domestic servants and sending their
meagre savings back home. During the winter months it is not
uncommon for pahadis to migrate temporarily to the plains from
the less hospitable hills. In Haldwani, the pahadis would spread over
the Bindukheda region, setting up temporary homes in the forest.
In 1977 the UP Government decided that it might be better to
earmark some 20 hectares of land specifically for the winter abode
of the pahadis rather than have them spread all over the forest. By
1991 these 20 hectares have expanded to 3,500 hectares and this
temporary shelter has grown into a mini-township. Burnt tree stumps
seem to be the only pointer to the forest that once existed at
Bindukheda.
No government or politician with a desire to continue in power is
going to dislodge the encroachers. Whlle some 2,700 cases have
been registered against various illegal occupants, the courts have
passed orders of eviction against 1,600 of them.
But for the demoralised forest staff the biggest threats are often
posed from within. As with most bureaucratic services, the Indian
Forest Service is ridden with factionalism and favouritism. Then
there is the problem of weeding out inefficient and corrupt staff, no
easy task in the government as Anand Singh Negi, field director of
Project Tiger at Corbett National Park, has found out. As the first
national park in the country and one constantly in the limelight,
poaching is more or less curtailed in Corbett. If at all there is an
ideal national park in the country, Corbett comes close to fittina the
bill. Timber poaching is more or less at a standstill.
The real problem posed to Corbett is the continued existence of a
colony built originally to house irrigation staff working on the construction
of the Kalagarh dam on the Ramganga river which runs through the
park.
The forests of Uttar Pradesh, particularly the Terai belt, have become
grounds for terrorists from adjoining Punjab. Much of the
illegal activity, from illegal timber felling to ganja making, is currently
being carried out in the name of the terrorists.
The Wildlife (protection) Amendment Bill, 1991, moved by Ministpr
of state of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Kamal Nctl
aims to broaden the scope and outlook of the previous act. The new
act, passed by both houses during the last parliamentary session
covers not only animals and birds, but. for the first time. rare and
endangered plants as well.
But the main problem remains: that of creating an awareness of the
importance of forests and of maintaining an ecological balance. It
is not enough to merely pay lip service to the environment and make
children learn poems about the importance of planting trees. Across
the board, from magistrates to architects, from legislators to bureaucrats,
the message has got to be hammered home that unless human
encroachments are dealt with humanely but firmly, unless tree felling
is stopped both by punitive action and the creation of a social
has been enveloping village after village and very substantial changes
have taken place in the economic, social and physical structures in
these areas. The Tamil Nadu government's efforts had three objec­
tives: preservation of scenic beauty, development of water front
recreation possibilities without causing land, water or marine
O~ik~U~{.~
M. K. Chandra Bose
Away from the din and bustle of Madras city lies the enchanting
beach resort of Mamallapuram dotted with monuments which are
the finest examples of Pallava architecture. Tourists come in droves
from all over the world round the year to this spot, considered one
of the centres of world heritage. One of the best beaches in the
world, the 56 km long Madras-Mamallapuram coastline offers great
potential for multifarious growth. It is a 10 km wide belt between
the Bay of Bengal and the Buckingham Canal with a population of
1,65,000 inhabiting 69 villages.
How to ensure development of the area for the optimllm realisation
of tourism potential without leaving any scars on the environment
has been a major challenge for the planners. Their task is all the
more difficult as the area is environmentally fragile and the devel­
opment hitherto haphazard. Right from 1972, the Tamil Nadu govern­
ment initiated several measures to regulate developments along the
coast. But lack of enforcement of various legislative measures
against the haphazard development on the coastline has nullified
the government efforts.
In this respect, the notification of the Union government on July 27
last year in regard to regulation of development along coastal
stretches of India was a landmark. Meanwhile, the ministry of
environment and forests initiated project studies for specific coastal
stretches. The task of formulating an environment management plan
for the Madras-Mamallapuram coast was entrusted to the centre for
Symbiosis of Technology, Environment and Management (STEM).
The project report prepared by a 17 member team of experts led
by Prof, B. Bhaskara Rao, the prinCipal investigator and submitted
to the government in January last says it is intended to reflect what
actually should go into planning of developmental projects commen­
surate with environmental sustainability. The plan is evolved in the
hope that it may be useful for establishing an analytical process for
decision makers and implementing agencies.
The evergrowng metropolis of Madras has cast its shadow on the
predominantly rural coastal stretch. In the North,the pressure of urban
growth are increasingly felt while from the South, where the Kal­
pakkam atomic plant is located similar pressures are in the offing.
','he study points out that pressure on land for urban use and water
to supplement the growing water and land requirements of the city's
increasing population are leading to unregulated and imbalanced
development and pollution of natural resources. Builders and land
developers are invading the canal and backwater zone, besides the
beach. Reclamation and conversion of land for urban use are widely
resorted to. Consequently, the inherent unity in the drainage network
and the water bodies is disturbed.
Being in the hinterland of Madras city, the agricultural production
pattern of the area would be determined by the demands of the
metropolis. The study foresees that the crop pattern will gradually
change to cash crops, market gardening and horticulture. In this
connection, the diminishing income from fishing and traditional farming
and the dwindling of the area under agriculture are significant.
According to the report, urban expansion, mostly in the private sector,
coastal stretch.
The scenic and archaeological importance' of the stretch attracts
significant tourist traffic. Various kinds of recreational facilities have
come up along the coast to meet the needs of the tourist influx such
as hotel complexes, beach cottages, and the snake and crocodile
farms. This has brought in 3 chain reaction giving a boost to the
commercial activities all along the route.
Though tourism is proposed to be expanded to bring prosperity to
the area and also to earn valuable foreign exchange, the question
is that of the capacity of environment to take up the load without
being adversely affected. Now, on normal days about 3,000 tourists
visit the place. On holidays, the number goes up to about 9,000.
The experience of Mahableshwar, Goa and other tourist centres
shows that overcrowding destroys the tranquilty and the recreational
quality of the resort. The large water body comprising the back water
has the potential for being developed into a sanctuary for birds. This
water body is slowly being filled with building debris from Madras.
The STEM study says that the over exploitation of ground water of
the coastal stretch may lead to water shortage in the area and warns
of severe drought if the practice is not checked. It suggests a well
planned water management strategy to avert such a situation. The
area is rich in acquiters providing excellent drinking water. Since the
existing level of ground water may not be sufficient even to meet
the growing demands of tourists, the study calls for drastic reduction
in the withdrawal of water to meet the needs of Madras. Besides,
the over-exploitation of ground water will lead to the intrusion of
saline water into the acquifers.
The report finds that the piOblem of pollution in the Madras­
Mamallapuram coastal stretch is largely that of water and land
Unhygenic methods of waste disposal and industrial efflu­
ents contribute to the problem. An integrated drainage system and
more scientific methods of waste disposal are suggested as the
remedy. The study recommends stricter enforcement of guidelines
on development, keeping in view the local needs and the creation
of nodal agencies for the purpose.
- Illustrated Weekly of India 14·20 December, 1991.
 NETWOKK vU? invite Network members to contribute to the Network letter
by sharing their work Ideas and plans through these pages:'
NEWS Communication is vital to the Irle ofa Network especia/~v when
ROUNDUP physical d':'itances cannot easily be brtdgedby dO_fer COnfacts_

Consultation on the New Tourism Policy in India, New Delhi. Resources

A 2-day Consultation was organised by EQUATIONS in collaboration
with Delhi Forum and INTACH (Tourism & Heritage section) on 11-
12 January 1992 to discuss the emerging trends in tourism policy
in the light of the newly iiberalised economic policies being pursued
in India. Participants included a variety of individuals and organisa­
tions from Delhi, and resource persons from a number of tourist areas
in India. The consultation came out with recommendations in 3 areas:
Networking, Alternatives to Tourism and Alternatives in Tourism.
Report is available from EQUAnONS.
Implications of Karnataka's Tourism Policy, Bangalore.
Organised by EQUATIONS, on November 30, 1991, the meeting
sought to focus on KarnataKa's planned tourism deve:opments in
relation to the national tourism policy. Presentations were made by
Dr. Duarte Baretto, Leo Saldanha and Joseiyn Lobo, apart from those
by Equations. An attempt was made to charter a broad based plan
Penang Hill: The need to save our Naturai Heritage, Martin Khor
Kok Peng et ai, Friends of Penang Hill, c/o. Consumers' Association
of Penang (Secretariat) Jalan Cantonment 10250 Penang, Malaysia,
1991. ISBN: 967 - 9950 - 61-1, pp. 150.
A critique of the proposed development plan In Penang Hill, this book
examines its special characteristics. It aiso outlines the principles for
any future development on the Hi!1. A critique of the Beriaya project
plan from the aspects of planning and procedure, environment and
cost-benefit analysis is detailed. An alternative plan is also proposed,
covering aspects SUdl as conservation, access etc.
Tourism: Environment and Development Perspectives, Peter Mason,
World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), United Kingdom 1990, ISBN:
0947613 17K, pp. 112.
Aimed primarily at students involved in courses with a tourism
dimension, this book looks at topics such as, people as visitors and
ALTERNATIVE NETWORK LETTER
A Third World Tourism Critique
For Private Circulation Only
THE CHOICE OF REASON
NOTHING will he the same anymore, bemoan the mourners of
Indian socialism's soon-to-be-forgotten demise. The IMF and
World Bank, we are dajl.y intonned, are the vanguard of a new
invasion, this time an economic one, fought with the armoury
I structural adjustment policies (SAP), although at the end of
~hat stick dangles the carrot of free enterprise
and economic liberalisation.
.~:(,
All issues of current concern arc today conven­
Vol 7 No. 3 February 1992
majority of our people. Therefol'e, the need to act and respond
is greater today than ever before. The space within which people
can act, respond and articulate genuine concerns will also
undouhtedly reduce, if we are to learn from lessons elsewhere
in the Third World. And tourism, as part of the all-important
service sector of the 'new economy', will continue
to expand and exploit.
.
But for us to be able to respond adequately

of local action by concerned peopie from the proposals that emerged hosts, land-use conflict, environmental impact, and the North/South iently laid at the doorstep ofthe global economic
and intelligently, we must move away from the
during the discussions. divide. Examples of 'Alternative Tourism' and ideas about education monster; bonded labour, deforestation, eco-de­ emerging world view that the problem is exter­

for future travel is also presented. Case studies on Bali, Turkey, the struction, tribals, women, tourism, children,
nal, sinco such a view is precisely being pro­

Norfolk Broads, and the exploitation of women in Southeast Asia, acculturation, N-encrgy, what have you. Blame
pounded by reactionary politicians today in
Third World Tourism and Dakshina Kannada, Manga\ore. the multinationals, point a finger at the US order to take the focus away from the me5S
A seminar was organised by YANA, a group based in Mangalore, together with a variety of maps, graphs, and newspaper extracts,
hegemony over the UN, say no to the Japanese within.
on 15, September 1991. EQUATIONS made presentations on "Global provide students with discussion material.
yen. This is the theme of our ill-begotten times. S dl h d f h' . . h .
Tourism and India's Tourism Policy" and "Tourism Plans and Projects econ y, t e anger 0 t IS VIew IS t at It sees
The Economic Effects of Tourism in Goa, with a micro-study on Although thore is nothing essentially incorrect people in a limited perspective: as victims,
of Karnataka". Other topics addressed were on 'Beach Tourism', employment in the hotel sector, Harm Zebregs, Tifburg, September in this line of reasoning, it is limited in certain rather than as arbiters of their own future.
'T ourism Plans in Dakshina Kannada' and on the 'People's Resistance 1991, pp. 90. important respects. Primary is the question of And since they are seen as victims, there must
in Goa'. Participants were drawn from a wide spectrum of interests, This thesis studies the development of tourism in Third World responsibility and accountability. Why, for ex- necessarily emerge a class of saviours - per­
representing NGOs, management and social work institutes, countries and examines the economic effects of tourism in the state ample, is the 'monster' seen only as being 'out haps ourselves.
researchers, educationists and other concerned individuals. of Goa, India. It also includes an analysiS of the economic benefits there'? Why are all the factors external to our "
and costs of tourism. Two reports are discussed, which have studied milieu? What about our responsibility in hav- WIth .all the nOIse of IMF'tWB diktats sur­
Conference on The Rights of the Child, Calcutta. ing allowed matters to have come to t'his pass? ro:mdmg us now, we mus~ focus once agai? on
the macro economic effects of the tourist sector in Goa.
What is it within us - as a society that we stIll unresolv?d struc.tural. Issue~: land ~e!atlO?S;
The Conference, held between 21 st - 24th November 1991, focussed
TOE-DOC, No. 3, Tourism, Development and Environment Project, so easily fall prey to the machinations of gov- .,t, lo~al ~nd regional eht~s) .mclud~ng rel~gIous m­
on the 'Role of NGOs in implementing the UN Convention on Rights "nments and institutions far removed from ~-..:-,-.,..-. . stItutlOns; the dram~tlC nse ofr:gh~-wmg forces
of the Child, with participants from 5 South Asian nations. It exam­ ECTWT, P.o. Box 24, Chorakhebua, Bangkok 10230, Jan 1991. 7(1
.? under a vanety of garbs; and the growmg centrahsatIOn of power
ined existing laws, levels of implementation as also the efficacy of pp. """ and authority within our country.
such executive action. K. T. Suresh, representing both EQUATIONS The first part of this edition of TOE-DOC, "Tourism Trends", bigh­ Undoubtedly, the new economic policies and priorities being fol­
lights the plans and programs for the Visit ASEAN Year 1992, while lowed by our government - under possible international pres­ That is the choice we are faced with, and the reasons are clear.
and ECPAT, made a presentation (co-authored with Rico Noronha) Moral indignation is an insufficient response to social injustice.
on the growing nexus between tourism and child prostitution, fo­ the "Golf Course and Resort Monitor" focusses on the impact of golf sures - will bring greater marginalisation and suffering for the
cussing on the Freddy Peat case in Goa. courses and mega-resort-projects in Malaysia. The last part "Towards Paul Gonsalves
Sustainable Tourism" deals with the pros and cons of "eco-tourism",
illustrating two examples of environmental management in Nepal and
AII·lndia Consultation of Tourism in India, Goa.
A 6-day consultation was organised by the Labour Commission of Thailand. No home on the range
the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) and the Archdiocese /Visit India Year' and 'Visit Indonesia Year', A comparative Namita Khanna
of Goa on "The Human Cost in Modern Tourism - A Challenge to study of Imagery, Anne Badger, Roehampton Institute of Higher
all Religions". It called for a greater say to the people at the Education, England, 1991 86 pp. like Mir Ali, the 512 Gujjar families who have lived for centuries elephants in north India, is to be declared a full-fledged national park,
grassroots level in determining the criteria that is acceptable to them. 1991 being both 'Visit India Year' and 'Visit Indonesia Year', the in the forests near Dehra Dun are understandably nervous about the Gujjars and their cattle will have to move out. Once a part of
,. . . . ..' .
Our new contact numbers:
Phone 812-S82313
1
.... author has chosen to examine the imagery of both promotional
campaigns. The deciSion to hold a tourism year is analysed in a
historical and global context with reference to colonialism and issues
being asked to move out to a spanking new concrete colony built
for them near the city of God, Haridwar. And who can biame them?
Where will they keep their cattle? What of their outstanding debts
Jammu princess's dowry, the Gujjars and their cattle pose a threat
to the wildlife in the park, argue forest officials. Then there is the
problem of overgrazing. But the Gujiars have been fighting to stay
_ ~ax ~12:58~~~7...~~~ ?20~ , '" of national identity. It also highligr!!s how t~e ,images used, in both to the loca! traders in Dehra Dun district? And, most important, how on since the mid-Ei9hties when they obtained a stay from the
I el1.:Ht u84;>MUtlVU c~"'" III (Ado v(7) ) promotional campaigns reflect tne dllterent ana otten OppOSlllg Interests will lil8y iive in a Gity and wi lcil wlil happerl [0 their Olc.l WCt.y o[ lire 7 Supreme Court. Following dirpr:tivps frnm lhl? mllrt. thp, Utt::Jr
Cable EQUATIONS BANGALORE of those involved and the inequalities of their power and influence. Pradesh government built the coiony whictl mciud'::ls a school and
If the proposed Rajaji National Park, comprising the Chilla, Rajaji community hall at a cost of Rs 2.87 crores in Haridwar district. In
and Motichur sanctuaries and home to the largest population of
988, the Supreme Court dismissed the petition of the Gujjars, but
Published by; Equitable Tourism Options (EQUATIONS), 168, 8th Main Road, Near Indiranagar Club, Bangalore-560 008. INDIA.
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