Application for Grant for an Action Research Project

Title

DEVELOPING SUSTAINABLE TOURISM IN PONDICHERRY UNION TERRITORY: POLICY, PLANNING, IMPLEMENTATION, AND MONITORING

Submitted to

By

PONDICHERRY UNIVERSITY MAY, 2005

1. INTRODUCTION Tourism has emerged as one of worlds largest industries and a fastest growing sector of the world economy, with an average annual growth rate of 7%. It is also true that ill-conceived, improperly planned and uncontrolled tourism activities would adversely affect the natural as well as cultural resources. However, tourism industry has grater reasons to conserve/protect the diversity and quality of the natural and cultural resources of the destination areas, on which it ultimately thrives. The linkages between tourism, ecology, economics, culture, and livelihoods are inseparable and cut across several and sectors; however, in intangible vein. costs Though and it is benefits well (due to that environmental and social-economic-cultural impacts) are rarely understood appreciated the right known environment is the travel industrys base product, it is rarely respected by the tourism promoters. While many tourism promotion efforts banner the climate, sun, warmth, and sand of particular coastal destinations, tourisms dependency on environments, in particular, nature-dominated environments, does not appear to be well understood within the tourism and recreation industry. This dependence is discussed only in the academic literature, the language of which is inaccessible to the planners and policymakers. Important entries in the environmental management lexicon such as monitoring and coordination, carrying capacity, ecological foot prints, and sustainability are rarely understood and appreciated by the tourism industry, the planners, or the implementing agencies in India. Very often we focus more on how the tourism industry is meeting its legal obligations for environmental protection (such as emissions) than the dependency of tourism on high-quality natural environments. The tourism industry in the UT of Pondicherry is no exception.

Developing Sustainable Tourism in Pondicherry UT: Policy, Planning, Implementation, and Monitoring

The tourism sector in India is characterized by a diversity of stake-holders, with mixed priorities, but with lack of communication and coordination and with mutual mistrust, tending toward a tragedy of the commons overexploitation of the commons (e.g. ground water, bio resources on common lands, etc.), degradation of biodiversity, erosion of culture and heritage, and so on. The conflicts between human economic security and ecological integrity are getting graver than ever before. Thus, the tourism and recreation industry are confronted with really difficult choices about their future. The decisions made now will for decades not only affect the local habitats and ecosystems but also the lifestyles and economic opportunities of residents in tourism destination areas. Many of these decisions are proved to be irreversible character that makes them distinctive and attractive to tourists, they lose their ability to vie for tourist-based income in an increasingly competitive marketplace. Hence, we need to work towards integrated and sustainable approaches to enhance the mutually reinforcing linkages, rather than falling preys to adhoc, cornucopian approaches. Worldwide, tourism is undergoing a fundamental change, from the experiences and settings travelers demand to the regulations governments impose to protect the environment. Some signs of these shifts are available from elsewhere, ranging from the changing perception of the industry statements on the value of the environment to the consumer demand for sustainable tourism options. 2. BACKGROUND
Developing Sustainable Tourism in Pondicherry UT: Policy, Planning, Implementation, and Monitoring

because

once

habitats/ecosystems/communities

lose

the

While there are a number of sustainable tourism options cited in the literature ecotourism (ET) is the most debated among these, and it has become almost customary to use the term ecotourism as a generic substitute for sustainable tourism (Boo, 1990). This is a significant movement away from the traditional conception of ET as tourism in natural areas. Throughout the proposal, we would be assuming this broader conception of ecotourism as a faithful operationalization of sustainable tourism principles. Sustainable tourism has emerged in response to the increasing negative impacts of ill- conceived and unplanned mass tourism activities and can be classified into: Natural - adventure tourism, ecotourism, and nature tourism Cultural - archaeological, rural, religious and ethnic Events - sports, carnivals, festivals, etc. Others - educational/ health/medical/space tourism.

Pondicherry endowed with its beautiful coastline and farmlands, rich cultural diversity, heritage buildings, temple festivals, and handicrafts has immense possibilities for being one among Indias highly sought after sustainable tourism/eco tourism destinations. Worldwide, ET is the tourism industry's fastest growing sub-sector, with an estimated annual growth of 10-15%. Some estimates suggest that 20% of all international tourists are in some way involved in ecotourism. According to the World Wildlife Fund for Nature, 20% of the revenue generated from tourism in developing countries is due to ecotourism. ET activities are offered by a large and wide variety of operators, and practiced by an even larger array of tourists. Because ecotourism is primarily resource-based, protection of these natural and cultural resources is essential for sustained ecotourism (Kusler, 1990). Many conservation organizations and
Developing Sustainable Tourism in Pondicherry UT: Policy, Planning, Implementation, and Monitoring

governments see ecotourism as the means to both preserve and develop natural and cultural resources in the remote areas. Many definitions of ecotourism have emerged since the term was coined in 1987. In 1991, The Ecotourism Society (TES) developed the following definition of ecotourism: responsible travel to natural areas that conserves the environment and sustains the well being of local people (Epler Wood, 1996).While there is no single universal definition for ET, its general characteristics can be summarized as follows: It includes all nature-based forms of tourism, in which the main motivation of the tourists is the observation and appreciation for admiring, enjoying and/ or studying nature as well as the traditional cultures prevailing in relatively undisturbed or uncontaminated natural areas. It is generally, but not exclusively organized for environmentally /socially conscious small groups by specialized and small, locally owned businesses. It minimizes negative impacts upon the natural and socio-cultural environment. It integrates conservation and sustainable livelihoods by providing alternative employment and equitable income opportunities based on tourism related micro-enterprises; this is done by active community participation in planning, implementing and monitoring of ET activities. It increases awareness towards the conservation of heritage, natural and cultural assets, both among locals and tourists by participatory, interactive, interpretative, enlightening and educational experiences.

As noted, the connecting thread between various types of alternative tourism, ecotourism being the most important among these, is the principle
Developing Sustainable Tourism in Pondicherry UT: Policy, Planning, Implementation, and Monitoring

of sustainability. Sustainable tourism development meets the needs of the present tourists and host regions while protecting and enhancing the opportunity for the future. It is envisaged as leading to the management of all resources in such a way that economic, social and aesthetic needs can be fulfilled, while maintaining environmental health. Sustainable tourism allows visitors to enjoy an attraction, community, or region with a volume and impact in such a way that the local culture and environment are unimpaired. An advocacy for eco-tourism based community development could be made from any of the following fronts: first, ecotourism is the largest industry sub-segment and there is a lot of money to flow in; second, increasing human populations and their demand on natural resources make it almost impossible for developing countries to leave large areas undeveloped; third, the worlds biodiversity is being lost at an estimated 140 species per day and ecotourism is the solution that offers the best rational solution to overcome this; fourth, community based ecotourism can legitimize the rights of local people who have for so long protected the resources in their areas; fifth, with money from ecotourism, jobs for local people become available (including ownership and management jobs) and health and education of local people can be improved. Though it is encouraging to note that throughout the world, there is a growing need for greening the tourism industry and to eco-label tourism and travel, as modern tourists are seeking destinations with unspoiled natural beauty, unfortunately, some influential segments view it as a passing fad, a gimmick or a buzzword, and consider it conveniently as a synonym with any offering resembling an outdoor activity, whether it takes a responsible approach to the environment or not. Often the ET label is misused by tourism operators in what is known as green washing, or green cloaking which include unregulated development of relatively
Developing Sustainable Tourism in Pondicherry UT: Policy, Planning, Implementation, and Monitoring

undisturbed areas, appropriation of ancestral lands, or just applying traditional tourism development models under the name of eco-tourism. If ET becomes uncontrollable, large numbers of eco-tourists will quickly constitute a mass and begin to impact on the local physical, biological, and cultural environment. The resultant impacts will be no different than that of mass tourism- perhaps they can be even greater. If the destination areas are located in ecologically/culturally sensitive areas, the anticipated impacts would be more severe and irreversible. Developing an area solely on the basis of tourism is also a risky proposition. Tourism is a fluctuating industry, dependent on uncertain influences such as weather, foreignexchange rates, and political stability. Planners also feel the possibility that a tourism program may not attract sufficient visitors, or visitors quickly enough, to generate the quantities of revenue needed to meet the economic expectations of the community, which can lead to disenchantment with the program and the belief that tourism serves no useful purpose. protect resources and ecotourism initiative may plummet This can altogether result in a decreased likelihood that the community will make efforts to (Pedersen 1990). It has been noted that ET sometimes fundamentally shifts residents' relationships to one another and to their community: changes are often visible terms of community solidarity, community diversification, delineation of social boundaries, competitive, and pro/anti social behavior, etc (Huang, 1996). Thankfully, it is only conditionally that the above mentioned shifts in residents relationship become good or bad. If development is engineered in such a way as to reflect the conscience of the local community, negative effects become insignificant. Ecotourism can bring many changes to the resident community, and the community must have a say in what it is willing to accept. Some of these changes can be very culturally detrimental. Without the whole-hearted support of these local communities, ecotourism can fail - locals may actually start killing wildlife and destroying forests in retribution (Hughes 1996; Stonich 1996;
Developing Sustainable Tourism in Pondicherry UT: Policy, Planning, Implementation, and Monitoring

Tchamie 1994).In fact, no tourism initiative can be successful without resident support. Successful ET initiatives invariably found synergic relations with local community aspirations. Indeed, community participation enhances a communitys sense of emotional attachment with tourism and community members even become ready to sacrifice their private benefits for the furtherance of tourism in their community (McCool, 1994). The development community has not adequately addressed how tourism can work with local communities, and that there has been inadequate funding to address this issue in the past. Most foreign (non-local) plans for mindset, not ecotourism development include community involvement, but view this involvement from a frequently inappropriate Western local residents (Escobar 1995; Ferguson 1994). necessarily from the traditional cultural framework and cognition of the This is not to say that community involvement and local benefits in ecotourism development are not championed. It only means that community values and specific cultural beliefs are rarely integrated into development plans. Community involvement is discussed only in terms of achieving a kind of secondary benefit for local residents; the primary goal is either the conservation of natural resources, or for developers to make a profit. Participatory approaches that empower local people for the Tourism sector are not common. It is time that developers form equal partnerships with local communities, and help to provide much needed funding for community ventures to empower community residents to control their own destiny in the tourism landscapes (Brandon 1993). Truly, sustainable tourism is to a great extent about the conservation of the environment. But, it not by arresting developmental activities of all sorts. Instead, it achieves the means of sustainability by properly planned developmental activities. Tourism that is not economically viable cannot support the call for socio-cultural or environmental sustainability. Thus, any successful tourism strategy ought to look into how to:
Developing Sustainable Tourism in Pondicherry UT: Policy, Planning, Implementation, and Monitoring

Welcome, involve and satisfy Visitors Achieve a profitable and prosperous Industry Engage and benefit host Communities Protect and enhance the local Environment

3. OBJECTIVES Action research is an applied research strategy which collects information to solve problems and to bring about changes in specific settings or organizations. It aims to address both the practical concerns of people (in a community, organization etc) and the goals of research through people working together on projects. Using methods such as particiopatory mapping, brainstorming, focus group discussions, workshops, etc. action research is a flexible method of integrating research into projects, involving community participants, and generating action. This is essential for efficient planning and development. Effective action research depends on the agreement and commitment of participants. It is very useful for working on complex social problems or issues that need systematic planning and analysis. The major objectives of the proposed action research are: To construct a tourism / environment / socio-economic database of the selected tourism destination areas and the surrounding ecosystems in the UT of Pondicherry To develop a more complete conceptual base for identifying and measuring the relationships between tourism development , natural resource/ biodiversity conservation and local livelihoods To evolve a customized Tourism Planning Toolkit for Pondicherry To monitor social, cultural , economic, and environmental impacts of the current tourism and the proposed sustainable tourism activities
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To

promote onsite environmental education

by

interpretation

programs, supporting conservation of natural resources and biodiversity

To identify and suggest appropriate pollution control technologies for the tourism sector (hotels/lodges, restaurants and resorts) - that are easy to operate and maintain , environmental friendly, socially acceptable, and financially viable

To

organize

educational,

training,

and

advisory

programs

for

sustainable tourism/ET in the region To support appropriate activities of sustainable tourism /ET product development and marketing by recognizing and supporting the identity, culture, and interests of local communities , based on the needs, preferences, and expectations of the target groups To catalyze wider adoption of recently emerging codes of ethics for tourism stakeholders To promote the ideas of ecotourism (ET) and sustainable tourism, responsible travel and tour operation (Ecolodge/ Ecotel guidelines and certification/evaluation programs) in the region

To create and integrate employment opportunities /local livelihoods/ entrepreneurships for women and local people in natural resource/biodiversity conservation and ET to the fullest possible extent by reinforcing the efforts of the government

To

influence

banking

and

financial by

institutions citing the

in

supporting and

sustainable

tourism

initiatives

strengths

opportunities for it in the Pondicherry region. To work with local populations to establish micro-enterprises that are independent but supportive of the proposed sites to ensure optimizing the benefits from various types of tourism To help enable the UT of Pondicherry to hold important stakes in the international cooperation sustainable tourism/ ET
Developing Sustainable Tourism in Pondicherry UT: Policy, Planning, Implementation, and Monitoring

and networking for community based

11

Through the proposed project, we would expect to achieve the following as well:

Establishment Tourism, and

of cooperation Environment

agreements and Forests

with (GOI

the Ministries of and their UT

counterparts) responsible for administering coastal areas to obtain their backing and involve them in developing outputs in the demonstration areas

Multi-sectoral participation in regional appraisal, selection and planning for demonstration areas Participation of local communities, especially youth, in regional appraisal, selection and planning for demonstration areas Use of local capacity and human resources to develop products and activities in the demonstration areas Support for or complementing of local processes as priority elements in developing demonstration experiences Interactive participation in which key stakeholders participate in joint analysis, development of action plans, and formation of local institutions. Participation is seen as a right, not merely as a means to achieve project goals. that yield the The process involves participatory methods of different stakeholder groups, perspectives

structured learning processes and problem solving approaches. It is already learnt from case studies elsewhere (chiefly from SE Asian countries ) that interactive participation would provide a useful entry point for management partnerships in the region

Regular ongoing communication leading to closer understanding and cooperation among the stakeholders (rather than merely for informing or consultation)

Issue-based management approach to establishing partnerships. In this approach, relevant partners are identified and invited to participate in the resolution of specific management issues, where these have been identified. The Tourism Planning Toolkit that we aim

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to develop for Pondicherry will tackle specific issues that may arise associated with the development and management of tourism. Issue based approaches seek to answer: How will this issue/decision affect the visitor? What are the implications for the industry? What is the impact on the community? What is the environmental effect?

Answers to these questions can be used to check the future viability of tourism decisions. The proposed research initiative will consider the following important issues and seek/provide actionable answers for them (adopted from Lash, 1998):

Social/Political Structure of Community

Who makes decisions in community? Who will interact with NGOs/ Co-management partners? Who will be involved in ecotourism projects? Who will distribute ecotourism benefits and how?

Physical Location of Hamlets & Neighborhoods

Is the community spread out? Does it involve more than one village?

Community Infrastructure
Are there roads, trails? Can tourists get to all parts of the village? What utilities are present?

Ecotourism Opportunities
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Is this a viable ecotourism site/community? Is there a unique attraction? What sites are available? How will they be developed and maintained?

Training and Education

What is taught? Business, 2nd Language, Guiding, Crafts, etc. Who will be trained? When and how long (timeline) will they be trained? How will they be evaluated?

Marketing
Who are the ecotourists? Where are they coming from? What are the ecotourists expectations? How do ecotourists know about this place? What other attractions are available nearby (to link with)?

Environment
What environment should be sustained? How to prevent degradation of natural resource? How to prevent trash & pollution? Who owns and controls land use?

Monitoring and Evaluation

Who should monitor and evaluate the above goals?

How and when should this be accomplished?

4. METHODOLOGY
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Specific destination areas in the UT of Pondicherry will be chosen for an in depth study in such a way that they represent the length and breadth of the UT in different gradients of health and/or degradation with regard to the status of habitat taking diversity/biodiversity/cultural into account the diversity and and natural resources, socio-cultural environmental

potentials for introducing sustainable tourism /ET as well as the current mass tourism areas. They will be chosen from all the four regions of Pondicherry. The next step will be the construction of an environmental/socio-economic database by improving the existing data for the chosen areas from Government records, publications, unpublished documents and personal observations. This will include the environmental profile, current/potential livelihoods, environmental and socio-cultural impacts based on recently emerging methodologies on indicators. General methodologies/guidelines for EIA are available from Rau and Wooten (1980), Klennert and Phantumvanit (1984), ADB (1986), Gray and Stokol (1988), Wathen (1988) , Ahmad et.al. (1989) , Winpenny (1991) , Biswas and Agarwal (1992) and Spllerberg (1992). Specific guidelines for tourism EIA are available from Sharma for (1995) & Sinha (1998). social Recently emerging methodologies ecological/environmental/ /economic/cultural

indicators will be used, wherever necessary. The following is a tentative list of such indicators:

Ecological/environmental indicators indicators of pollution and disturbance, ecological footprints, odor, smell, noise level, raise in temperature, air quality, water quality/taste/color, percentage percentage treatment of wastes generated, habitat fragmentation,

vegetation cover and diversity, length of motorable roads in the vicinity, behavioral abnormalities of wildlife abnormal changes in
Developing Sustainable Tourism in Pondicherry UT: Policy, Planning, Implementation, and Monitoring

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growth, health, reproductive potential, feeding habits, distribution/ migration/

dispersal

/regeneration indicators duration,

patterns,

invasion in the

of

exotic

species, bio-diversity of birds, butterflies and other indicators. Socio-cultural/economic frequency of visits/stay changes visitor visitors density/ perception,

frequency of second visits, viewing pattern, improvements in basic infrastructural facilities, percentage of locals employed in tourism, disposable income /debt burden, changes in local life-styles, leisure available and accumulation of assets of the local communities, percentage contribution of the local goods/food to the tourists consumption, etc. As a part of planning process key stake holding departments (especially Department of Tourism, Govt. of Pondicherry, PT&TDC, Pondicherry Forest department, INTACH, ASI, etc) and personnel will be contacted and necessary permission in writing will be obtained from them to visit the protected areas and other evidences, to access their documents as well as to ensure official recognition, support and encouragement of the sustainable tourism /ET enterprises. Secondary sources available in the form of policies and guidelines, statistics and reports, white papers, research reports, papers, management plans, books and journals necessary to the research topic will be collected and analyzed to get sufficient answers to the questions raised. Based on the results of documentary analysis, a variety of questionnaires will be framed using different questionnaire types in order to elucidate complete information from the stakeholders. Question types may include quantity or information, category, list or multiple choices, scale, ranking, complete grid or table and open ended questions. Combinations of these question types in various ways are to be used to draft a competent questionnaire. A pilot study would be conducted using the questionnaire and the structured interview to test the effectiveness of the method. Necessary
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16

modifications in the questionnaire as well as in the interview structure would be carried out based on the responses received during the pilot study. Data will be collected from both primary (questionnaires, interviews, discussions, focus group interviews, brainstorming sessions with interested and influential community leaders/decision makers as well as concerned government officials, representative tourists /tour operators and secondary sources (publications/records). The former will be collected by conducting specially designed survey questionnaires, using Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA) and Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) techniques as per the broad guidelines suggested by Mc Craken et.al. 1988, Case, 1989 & 1990, Kamp and Schuthof 1989, Centre for International Development and Environment, 1990 and Brenes 1994. This is to ensure that the felt needs/priorities of the local communities and other stake -holders are given their due weightage. Stakeholder analysis will be done following the guidelines provided by Borrini-Feyerabend (1997). Gender issues will form integral components of such appraisal techniques in view of the prevalent gender differentials on the impact of development projects. Potential areas of conflict in the use and management of natural resources for the tourism sector will be identified so as to evolve effective conflict resolution strategies for multiple use management. Tourism carrying capacity for the chosen destination areas will be estimated by using recently emerging methods such as limits of acceptable change (LAC), visitor impact management(VIM), Visitor activity management process (VAMP) and recreation opportunity spectrum(ROS) (Eagles, et al., 2002). Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), Participatory Rural Appraisal, Focus Group discussions, Questionnaires, structured and semi-structured interviews, and observation methods will be administered continuously even
Developing Sustainable Tourism in Pondicherry UT: Policy, Planning, Implementation, and Monitoring

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after the project is over using the student manpower from Tourism, Ecology and Sustainable Development Departments of Pondicherry University to observe the changes or trends in the primary data. In addition, the past trends in the data will be collected from primary (recall data) and secondary sources. The intended respondent under each category will be administered face to face to get the best response for the questionnaire and the interview. The respondents will be selected through simple random sampling strategy. The sample size would like to cover at least 10 percentage of the total population in each category. All the interviews will be recorded using portable tape recorders for future retrieval and analysis. Responses from all the respondents and different places in the destination areas will be recorded using a digital camera for analysis and reference purposes. Time Budget Analysis (TBA), problem / objective tree gender analysis will be done for the randomly the selected human settlements using by ADB (1994), Williams (1994) TBA will reveal the time activity also indicates their analysis and in

chosen households

the methodologies suggested

and Mikkelson (1995). Analysis of pattern of the target population and

preferences and preoccupations. Problem tree

analysis is a visual technique to gain more understanding of the root causes of the problems by drawing the problem tree which ultimately leads to the preparation of the objective tree to solve the problems. Gender analysis is a powerful tool for any sustainable development program since it has been noted that males and females are affected differently in consequence of any developmental initiative. Data collected through EIA, questionnaire, observation, field study and the interview process would be analyzed using both qualitative and quantitative analysis. identified Triangulation and actively of qualitative in and quantitative of findings will definitely enrich the final outcome. Interested local stake holders will be involved the process data collection, verification/validation, analysis and interpretation to the maximum possible
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extent, training them, if necessary. This will ensure that there will be voluntary involvement for the subsequent monitoring of the project, even after the project is completed. A research advisory committee will be constituted consisting of the project investigators, Heads of the University Departments of Ecology, Tourism, and the Coordinator of MA Sustainable Development program as well as representatives from the UT Government Department of Tourism, PT&TDC, Pondicherry Forest Department, DRDA, PWD, INTACH, ASI, etc. The committee will review the progress of the research once in three months, based on the interim progress reports and advise the research team suitably. A PERT/CPM table indicating the major phases of the project are given in Table 1. Project budget is presented in Table 2 followed by justifications in Table 3. A brief background on the institutions involved is given in the Appendix along with the bio-data of the investigators. The broad division of some of the important output responsibilities associated with the project is as follows: S.No Executing Agent 1 First Investigator Output Responsibility Construction of a tourism / environment database Environmental

education/interpretation program Training and technical assistance

on sustainable tourism and ecotourism for selected groups 2 Inter-institutional coordination in Construction a tourism / socio-

tourism and environment

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Second Investigator

economic database Training and technical assistance

on evolving business plans for sustainable tourism and ecotourism Marketing research and extension Inter-institutional coordination in Corporate Social responsibility Facilitation in constructing the Inter-departmental coordination

tourism 3 DoT, Pondicherry

databases within Govt.

5. PROJECT QUALITY CONTROL We have devised an inbuilt mechanism to make sure that the project is taking the expected trajectories and that tangible progress is achieved at its each major phase. The mechanism works concurrently with the project, from its beginning to end. We believe that flawless processes adopted in the interim stages of the project will yield a flawless finished product in the end. Interim evaluation of the project will be done at critical points, in addition to a thorough final review. The internal review of the project will be a selfassessment of the achievements, impacts, and lessons learned during the project implementation. The specific aims of the evaluation are to: Assess the effectiveness, efficiency and timeliness of project implementation Evaluate the impact of project activities and related outputs, including their contribution to the overall goal of the project Determine the projects relevance in relation to the needs of the
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stakeholders and environment Assess the long-term sustainability of the actions initiated Identify lessons learned with respect to the projects

strategic approach (the processes and mechanisms chosen to achieve the objectives) For evaluation and applying possible corrective measures, the project will be divided into four phases:

Pre-planning Phase: inception mission and revision of the project Planning Phase: regional workshops, focus group discussions, brain mission and specific management teams,

document, focus group discussions, brain stormings etc.

stormings, identification of demonstration sites, site workshops

Implementing

Phase:

establishment

of

Implementation of specific site activities and research and monitoring

Monitoring, Assessment and Evaluation Phase: Internal monitoring

and reporting of specific site activities, inter-regional workshop and external overall project evaluation Briefly, the project evaluation methodology will be as follows: A desk review of the project document, work plans and progress and other relevant documentation to review and assess reports

achievements, and performance regarding work plans, in particular Consultation of project partners, staff and key stakeholders through brain-storming, meetings and questionnaires, where The evaluation elements and questions are defined in

interviews, appropriate.

participatory form by the project investigators and the evaluating team.

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Table 1 ANNUAL WORK-PLAN S.No 1 2 3 Name of the activity Q -1 Q -2 Q-3 Q -4

Preliminary/Preparation work ** Exploratory visits ** Selecting study Areas, Preparation of ** questionnaires obtaining permissions and net working

**

4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Training courses ** Conducting pilot studies Refining /redesigning research plan Conducting field survey including EIA/SCBA Compiling and Analyzing the data Stake holder consultations National workshop Submitting the final Report

** ** **

** ** **

**

**

** ** **

6. PRACTICAL RELEVANCE AND UTILITY OF THE PROJECT Any integrated natural resource management strategy should ideally include local communities as the most important stakeholder group. Well-planned and properly managed sustainable/eco tourism ventures (especially community based/run) will ensure equitable distribution of benefits without compromising the conservation concerns of that area. Government of India in general and some Ministries in particular, especially, Tourism and Environment and Forests, have been encouraging sustainable tourism strategies for quite a long time. The objective is to ensure regulated growth of sustainable tourism and ecotourism with their positive impacts of environmental protection and community development.
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The sustainable tourism initiatives proposed by us are thus well in tune with these objectives. Existing practices testify that eco-cultural tourism develops at a

considerable speed and diversifies continuously in a multifaceted way (Bachleitner, 1999). It constitutes not only the base for the booming tourism but acts more and more as an instrument for fostering tourism in rural and periurban areas and for improving the quality of life of the local communities. Our initiative will certainly Our lead to improvements will in environmental quality and will facilitate the regeneration of local natural resources/biodiversity/cultural diversity. programs facilitate organic linkages between tourism, conservation, and local livelihoods. The Pondicherry Tourism and Transport Development Corporation and the Public Works Department, Government of Pondicherry, may use the research findings for regulating the conventional tourism activities on long term sustainable basis as well as for initiating new ecotourism projects. Enterprising but poor local community groups will be identified and motivated to initiate community based ecotourism and other alternative livelihood enterprises in their areas with assistance from the ongoing developmental programs of the Government, such as Self Help Groups. Selected youths shall be imparted sustainable guide training and we believe a learning multiplier effect from such an input. The growing interest in community tourism development is paralleled by a switch of emphasis away from large automatic grants to attract inward investment projects, towards small firms, and indigenous development. The promotion of small and medium enterprises by governmental authorities is on the basis that these firms provide the community underpinnings for entrepreneurship and job creation. Taking the experience of European Union countries as examples, a study has been carried out to measure job creation performance against targets. On the whole, the small and medium community oriented eco cultural tourism enterprises performed far better than their behemothal,
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mass tourism counterparts. Also, it has been observed that, cetirus paribus, tourists preferred to opt for the services of a community tourism provider than of a mass tourism counterpart (Wanhill, 2000). We strongly anticipate our projects impacts along the fronts of job creation and marketing. We hold that the active cooperation of every stakeholder could be catalyzed by awareness campaigns, brain-storming sessions, workshops, networking, etc. Ample exposure will be provided for all the stakeholders to the emerging challenges facing the tourism industry, which is struggling to meet the twin conflicting ends of sustainability and growth. This will aid the stakeholders in various capacities in evolving Dos and Donts for planning, implementing, monitoring, and practicing regulated mass tourism in their regions. Formal training and capacity building of the staff from PT&TDC and other related stake holders the various players in the tourism industry (such as transport , accommodation, and services), Pondicherry Forest Department, PWD, DST&E, Pondicherry Municipality, DRDA, Social Welfare, Town & Country Planning Department, etc is anticipated as part of the project. Local Government and Panchayati Raj institutions will also be part of the forum, since they are the closest ones to the people in the hierarchy of government. They would be trained in the operational management of natural and cultural resources within their periphery, in regional marketing, in visitor interpretation, and eventually in building a Visitor Information Network (VIN). Our project is about synergizing preservation and marketing advantage for the bourgeoning number of new tourists who believe that tourism is not about master-slave relationship of domination and control. Insights gained from our initiative can enable the industry to compete successfully for attracting this set of domestic and international tourists who will not hesitate to pay a heavy premium for the enhanced quality of the tourist product. Private tour operators and travel agencies may find our research outcome useful in introducing/modifying /expanding their ventures and
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evolving partnerships with local community groups directly and indirectly involved in tourism, especially for marketing of indigenous tourism products. SME networking and cooperative alliances to market otherwise unknown tourism products have been found successful elsewhere, some important examples being the Annapurna project in Nepal and Tourihab project in Portugal. As a spin-off of the proposed project, we would be generating awareness among the university student community. They would be motivated to involve themselves in greening the tourism industry of Pondicherry (by assigning field projects, summer internships, and by enabling them to participate in the seminars, conferences, training courses, and workshops to be organized). If needed, the scheme may be extended to students from other institutions, especially the undergraduate colleges affiliated to the University. In course of time, the output of the study could get generalized and such standardized outputs could then be employed for the development of adequate human resources in the areas of tourism planning and development in other States and Union Territories as well. Incidentally, the recent meeting of the State ministers of Tourism has emphasized the need for embracing sustainable tourism paths, thus indicating the political will for a change. Thus, we can clearly foresee a day when Pondicherry will eventually emerge as a pioneering leader in promoting ecologically sustainable and socially equitable tourism strategies not only for the Southern tourism circuit but also for the first time in our country.

Table 2

PROJECT BUDGET (for phase 1 to be funded by the

Department of Tourism, Govt. of Pondicherry )

a) Salaries & Wages
Developing Sustainable Tourism in Pondicherry UT: Policy, Planning, Implementation, and Monitoring

25

S.No 1 2 4

Designation Senior Project Fellows/Res earch Associates @ Rs. 10000 P.M Field Technical Assistants

No 2 4

Amount (Rs.) 240000 1,44,000 10,000 3,94,000

@ Rs. 3,000 Field assistants (non- technical) @ Rs 100 p er day X N.A. 100 days Sub total

b) Perm anent Equipm ent S.No 1 2 3 5 Equipm ent No. Amount (Rs.) 1,40,000.00 35,000.00 8,000.00 5,000.00 1,88,000.00

Laptop Notebook (PIV, 256 RAM, 40 GB, Combo 2 Drive) with wireless internet connec tivity Digital Camera - 8 mega Pixel Audio recorders @ Rs. 2000 Field Binocular Sub Total 1 4 1

c) Expendables S.No 1 2 Item CDs, Floppies, Stationeri es Communica tion Expenses charges Sub Total d) Travel and allowance s S.No Designation Amount Amount (Rs.) 20,000.00

Email, Courier, Cell phone, internent connec tions, Postal 20,000.00 40,000.00

Developing Sustainable Tourism in Pondicherry UT: Policy, Planning, Implementation, and Monitoring

26 (Rs.) 36,000 60,000 24,000 1,20000*

1 2 3

Investigators @ Rs6000 per visit X 6 visits (other regions of UT) Senior Research Fellow @ Rs. 5000 per visit x 12 visits Field Technical Assistant @ Rs. 2000 per visit X 12 visits Sub Total

e) Other project costs S.No 1 2 3 4 5 6 Activity Amount

(Rs.) Organi zing Stakehold er meetings, PRA exercises 8 meetings @ 40,000 Rs.5000 per meeting Purchasing books, data, journals etc Training courses for the PT&TDC staff Training course for the p roject staff Preparation of Report Conti ngenci es Sub total BUDGET SUMMARY 10,000 50,000 25,000 25,000 20,000 1,70,000***

S.No 1 2 3 4 5 6

Activity Salaries & Wages Perma nent equipments Expendables Travel and Allowances Other Project Cost Institutiona l overheads (15 % of the total cost) Grand Total

Amount (Rs.) 3,94,000 1,84,000 40,000 1,20000 ** 1,70,000 146400 10,54,400

* We would be able to mobilize additional funds for subsequent phases (monitoring and replication to other sites in the UT & other states/UTs) from other funding agencies such as UGC, AICTE, MHRD, etc. from Govt of India as well as DFID, CIDA, ADB, WTO, WB, etc. based on the progress made during the final phases of the present project.
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**May

be reduced

if we are permitted

to

use PT&TDC

transport

vehicles/accommodation facilities free of cost for our outstation field visits (Mahe, Yanam & Karailkal) *** Amount of funding may be reduced also if we can are successful in getting matching grants from ITDC, Central planning Commission or other funding agencies such as DST, UGC, EU, World Bank, Asian Development Bank, etc. The above budget does not include training/capacity building for the major private players in the tourism industry (separate budget requirements have to be worked out; probably, it could be sought as industry funding)

Table 3

BUDGET JUSTIFICATION
Justifications For supervision and synthesizing the results For collecting and analyzing the data For collecting air, soil and water samples and as local survey assistants for PRA For visiting the destination areas /offices to collect data /samples

Budget Head SPFs / RAs Field Technical Assistants Field Assistants

Travel allowance (Petrol bill for 2 wheeler) Laptop Notebook connec tivity Digital Camera with wireless

internet For DBMS, networking, extension and training (1 each at PU & CTS for PI & COI) For collecting /storing digital images of destination areas for training, EIA studies For recording/retrieval interviews of key

Audio recorders Field Binocular

For observing, identifying & studying the wild life and for assessing the impacts of tourism

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Computer CDs, Floppies A4 Paper (Bond) Miscellaneous expenses (incidentals) Xeroxing Books & Journals Project report preparation Project overheads (25% of the salary)

For storing voluminous information

For report preparation, publications

Incidental minor expenses such as postage, Fax, Phone etc. For Xeroxing relevant publications For updating our knowledge For submission To be handed over to our University as per our requirements as service charges

APPENDIX A. Institutional Affiliation of the Project Investigators Pondicherry University, established in the year 1985 is offering Postgraduate, M.Phil and Ph.D. programmes in frontier areas of Arts and Sciences. A new common sophisticated instrumentation center for detailed analysis of soil, water and body tissues is being set up. Our library can boast of the best books and Journals on all available subjects. Our campus has a faster Internet connectivity and campus Intranet for all Faculty. Department of Ecology and Environmental Sciences of Pondicherry University was established in the year 1987. The broad objectives of this strongly inter-disciplinary department include teaching, research, consultancy and extension in key areas of basic and applied Ecology. Besides, the local ecosystem studies, the department has been actively engaged in doing research on bio-diversity and conservation issues in both Western and Eastern Ghats, Gulf of Mannar Biosphere reserve, Integrated watershed/coastal Zone management, Biomedical /Municipal solid waste
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29

management issues, sustainable management of natural resources and Ecosystems, sustainable tourism and Agro-ecology. The principal investigator of the proposed project is associated with this department as a reader. Recently, UGC has sanctioned an innovative MA program on Sustainable Development in the University, in which the principal investigator is one among the faculty involved. Thus, there is a possibility for involving the students as well as the other faculty and Visiting faculty of this program as well for the proposed project. Centre for Tourism Studies (CTS) of Pondicherry University was

established in 1991 with the assistance from the Central government as a nodal centre of excellence with a view to cater to the increasing demand for trained manpower in tourism and allied industries as well as to undertake high end research in these fields. From its inception, CTS has been doing a commendable work in the direction of fulfilling its exalted mission. It offers an MBA as well as an MPhil program in tourism and its products are well received by the academia and the industry. Throughout, CTS has collaborated with the State administration of tourism in matters like the formulation its master plan, organization of various events and festivals such as yoga festival and world tourism day celebrations. It is a member of industry associations like IATO, TAAI, etc. B. Bio-data of the Investigators

***THE END***

Developing Sustainable Tourism in Pondicherry UT: Policy, Planning, Implementation, and Monitoring