Pondicherry Tourism Proposal

7/31/2019 Pondicherry Tourism Proposal

1/29

Application for Grant for an Action Research Project

Title

DEVELOPING SUSTAINABLE TOURISM IN

PONDICHERRY UNION TERRITORY:

POLICY, PLANNING, IMPLEMENTATION, AND

MONITORING

Su bmi tted to

By

PONDICHERRY UNIVERSITY

MAY, 2005


2/29

1. INTRODUCTION

Tourism has emerged as one of worlds larges t industr ies 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, tour ism industry has grater reasons to conserve/protect the

diversity and quality of the natural and cultural resources of the destination

areas , on which i t u lt imately thr ives . The l inkages between touri sm,

ecology, economics, culture, and livelihoods are inseparable and cut across

s ev er al sec to rs; h owev er, i ntan gi ble c osts an d b en ef its (d ue to

environmental and social-economic-cultural impacts) are rarely understood

an d a pp reci ated in th e ri gh t v ein . Th ou gh i t is wel l kn own th at

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 i s inaccessible to the p lanners and pol icymakers.

Impor tant ent ri es in the environmental management l ex icon such as

monitoring and coordination, carrying capacity, ecological foot prints, and

sustainability are rarely understood andappreciated by the tourism industry,

the planners, or the implementing agencies in India. Very often we focus

more on how the tour ism indust ry i s meeting i ts legal obligat ions for

environmental protect ion (such as emissions) than the dependency of

tourism on high-quality natural environments. The tourism industry in the

UT of Pondicherry is no exception.

Develop ing Sus ta inab le Tou r i sm in Pond icher ry UT: Po l icy , P lann ing , Imp lemen ta t ion , and Mon i to r ing

2


3/29

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 mis trus t , t ending toward a tr agedy of the commons -

overexploi tat ion of the commons (e.g. ground water, bio resources on

common lands, etc.), degradation of biodiversi ty, erosion of culture and

heri tage, and so on. The confl icts between human economic securi ty 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

i rrever sible because once habit at s/ ecosys tems /communi ti es lose the

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 fal ling preys to ad-

hoc , cornucop ian approaches . Wor ldwi de , t ou ri sm i s under go ing a

fundamental change, from the experiences and settings travelers demand to

the regulations governments impose to

protect the environment. Some sign s 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


3


4/29

While there are a number of sus ta inable touri sm opt ions c it ed in the

l i terature ecotourism (ET) is the most debated among these, and i t has

become almost customary to use the term ecoto urism as a generic

subst itute for sus ta inable touri sm (Boo, 1990) . Thi s i s a s igni fi cant

movement away from the traditional conception of ET as tourism in natural

areas . Throughout the proposal, we would be assuming thi s broader

conception of ecotourism as a fai thful operationalizat ion 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 i t s beaut iful coas tl ine and farmlands , r ich

cultural diversity, heritage buildings, temple festivals, and handicrafts has

immense poss ibi li t ies for being one among Indias highly sought af ter

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

tour ism in developing countries i s due to ecotour ism. ET activit ies are

offered by a large and wide variety of operators, and practiced by an even

larger array of tourists. Because ecotourism is primari ly resource-based,

protection of these natural and cultural resources is essential for sustained

ecotour ism (Kusler , 1990) . Many conservat ion organizat ions andDevelop ing Sus ta inab le Tou r i sm in Pond icher ry UT: Po l icy , P lann ing , Imp lemen ta t ion , and Mon i to r ing

4


5/29

governments see ecotour ism 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 i s no s ingle universal definit ion for ET, i t s general

characteristics can be summarized as follows:

I t includes all nature-based forms of tour ism, in which the main

mot ivation of the tour is ts i s the observation and appreciat ion for

admiring, enjoying and/ or studying nature as well as the traditional

cultures prevail ing in relatively undis turbed or uncontaminated

natural areas.

I t is generally, but not exclusively organized for environmentally

/social ly conscious small groups by special ized and small , locally

owned businesses.

I t minimizes negative impacts upon the natural and socio-culturalenvironment.

I t integrates conservation and sustainable l ivelihoods by providing

alternative employment and equitable income opportunities based on

tourism related micro-enterprises; this is done by active community

particip ation 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 connect ing thread between various types of al ternative

tourism, ecotourism being the most important among these, is the principleDevelop ing Sus ta inab le Tou r i sm in Pond icher ry UT: Po l icy , P lann ing , Imp lemen ta t ion , and Mon i to r ing

5


6/29

of sustainability. Sustainable tourism development meets the needs of the

present tourists an d host regions while protecting and enhancing th e

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

fulf i lled, while maintaining environmental heal th. Sustainable tour ism

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: f irs t , ecotourism is the largest industry

sub-segment and there i s a lot of money to f low in; second, increas ing

human populat ions and their demand on natural resources make i t almost

impossible for developing countries to leave large areas undeveloped; third,

the worlds biodiversi ty is being lost at an est imated 140 species per day

and ecotour ism is the solut ion that of fers the best rat ional solut ion to

overcome this ; four th, communi ty based ecotour ism can legi timize the

rights of local people who have for so long protected the resources in their

areas; f if th, with money from ecotourism, jobs for local people become

avai lable ( including ownership and management jobs) and heal th and

education of local people can be improved.

Though i t i s encouraging to note that throughout the wor ld, there i s a

growing need for greening the tourism industry and to eco-label tourism

and t ravel , as modern tour is ts are seeking dest inat ions with unspoiled

natural beauty, unfor tunately, some influent ial segments view i t as a

pass ing fad, a gimmick or a buzzword, and consi der it convenien tly as a

synonym with any offering resembling an outdoor activi ty, whether i t

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


6


7/29

undis turbed areas , appropr ia tion of ances tral l ands, or jus t apply ing

traditional tourism development models under the name of eco-tourism. If

ET becomes uncontrollable, large numbers of ecotour is ts wil l quickly

constitute a mass and begin to impact on the local physical, biological, and

cultural environment. The resultant impacts will be n o different than that of

mass tourism- perhaps they can be even greater. If the destination areas are

located in ecologically/cultural ly sensit ive areas, the anticipated impacts

would be more severe and irreversible. Developing an area solely on the

basi s of tourism is also a risky proposition. Tourism is a fluctuating

industry, dependent on uncertain influences such as weather, foreign-

exchange rates, and p olitical stability. Planners also feel the possibility that

a tourism program may not at tract sufficient visi tors , or visi tors 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 th e belief th at tourism serves no useful purp ose. Th is can

result in a decreased l ikelihood that the community wil l make efforts to

protect resources and ecotourism initiative may plummet altogether

(Pedersen 1990).

I t has been noted tha t ET somet imes fundamental ly shi ft s r es idents '

relationships to one another and to thei r communi ty: changes are of ten

vis ib le t erms of communi ty sol idar ity, communi ty d iver si fi ca tion ,

delineation of social boundaries, competitive, and pro/anti social behavior,

etc (Huang, 1996) . Thankful ly, i t i s only condi tional ly that the above

mentioned shi ft s in r es idents r el at ionship become good or bad . I f

development is engineered in such a way as to reflect the conscience of the

local community, negative effects become insignificant. Ecotourism can

bri ng many changes to the resident community, and th e commu nity mu st

have a say in what i t is wil ling to accept . Some of these changes can be

very culturally detr imental . Without the whole-hearted support of these

local communit ies, ecotourism can fai l - locals may actually start ki l l ing

wildlife and destroying forests in retribution (Hughes 1996; Stonich 1996;


7


8/29

Tchamie 1994) .In fact , no tour ism init iat ive can be successful without

res ident support . Success fu l ET ini ti at ives invar iably found synergic

relations with local community aspirations. Indeed, community participation

enhances a communitys sense of emotional at tachment 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 t hi s i ss ue i n t he pas t. Most f or ei gn ( non- loca l) p lans f or

ecotourism development include community involvement, but view this

involvement f rom a f requently inappropr ia te Western mindset , not

necessari ly from the tradit ional cultural framework and cognit ion of the

local res idents (Escobar 1995; Ferguson 1994) . This i s 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 eith er th e conservation of

natural r esources , or for developers to make a profi t. Par ti cipa tory

approaches tha t empower local people for the Touri sm sec tor a re not

common. I t is t ime that developers form equal partnerships with local

communi t ies, and help to provide much needed funding for communi ty

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.

Ins tead , i t achieves the means of sus ta inabil ity by proper ly p lanned

developmental act ivi t ies . Tourism that is not economically viable cannot

support the call for socio-cultural or environmental sustainabil i ty. Thus,

any successful tourism strategy ought to look into how to:


8


9/29

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 speci fi c set tings or

organizations. It aims to address both the practical concerns of people (in a

communi ty, organization etc) and the goals of research through people

working together on project s. Using methods such as par ti ciopatory

mapping, brainstorming, focus group discussions, workshops, etc. act ion

research is a flexible method of integrating research into projects, involving

communi ty par ti cipant s, and generat ing act ion. Thi s i s essenti al 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 ident ifying and

measuring the relat ionships 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 activitiesDevelop ing Sus ta inab le Tou r i sm in Pond icher ry UT: Po l icy , P lann ing , Imp lemen ta t ion , and Mon i to r ing

9


10/29

To promote ons it e environmental education by interpretat ion

programs, supportin g conservation of natu ral resources and bio-

diversity

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 f riendly, socially

acceptable, and financially viable

To organize educational , t ra in ing, 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 support ing the

identi ty, culture, and interests of local communit ies , 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/

en trep reneursh ips for women an d local peop le in natural

resource/biodiversi ty conservat ion and ET to the fulles t poss ible

extent by reinforcing the efforts of the government

To inf luence banking and f inancial ins ti tu tions in support ing

su sta in ab le to uri sm in iti ati ves by citi ng th e s tren gth s a nd

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 cooperat ion and networking for communi ty based

sustainable tourism/ ET


10


11/29

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

well:

Establishment of cooperation agreements with the Ministries of

To uri sm, an d E nv iron men t a nd Fo res ts ( GOI an d th ei r UT

counterparts) responsible for administering coastal areas to obtain

thei r backi ng and i nvol ve them i n devel op ing out pu ts i n t he

demonstration areas

Multi -sectoral part icipat ion in regional appraisal , select ion and

planning for demonstration areas

Participation of local communities, especial ly 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 priori ty

elements in developing demonstration experiences

Interactive participation in which key stakeholders participate in joint

analysi s, development of act ion p lans , and formation of local

institutions. Participation is seen as a right, not merely as a means to

achieve project goals . The process involves part icipatory methods

that yield the perspectives of different s takeholder groups,

structured learning p rocesses 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 partnership s 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

th is approach, r el evan t par tner s a re i dent if ied and i nv it ed t o

particip ate in the resolution of specific management issues, where

these have been identified. The Tourism Planning Toolkit that we aim


11


12/29

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 init iat ive wi ll cons ider the following important

issues and seek/provide actionable answers for them ( adopted from Lash,

1998):

So ci al/Political Struct ure of Co mmu nity

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?

Ph ysical Lo ca tion of Ha ml ets & Nei ghborhoods

Is the community spread out?

Does it involve more than on e village?

Community Infrastructure

Are there roads, trails?

Can tourists get to all parts of the village?

What utilities are present?

Ec otourism Opportunities


12


13/29

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?

Ma rketing

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)?

En vironment

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


13


14/29

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

s tatus of habi tat divers i ty/biodiversi ty/cul tural divers i ty and natural

resources , t ak ing into account the socio-cul tura l and environmental

potentials for introducing sustainable tourism /ET as well as th e current

mass tour ism areas. They wil l be chosen f rom al l the four regions of

Pondicherry.

The next step will be the construction of an environmental/socio-economic

dat abas e by i mprovi ng the exi st ing dat a f or t he chosen a reas f rom

Government records, publications, unpublished documents and personal

observations. This will include the environmental profile, current/potential

l ivelihoods, environmental and socio-cultural impacts based on recently

emerging methodologies on indicators. General methodologies/guidelines

f or E IA a re ava il ab le f rom Rau and Woot en ( 1980), K lenner t and

Phantumvanit (1984), ADB (1986), Gray and Stokol (1988), Wathen

(1988) , Ahmad et .al . (1989) , Winpenny (1991) , Biswas and Agarwal

(1992) and Spllerberg (1992). Speci fic guidelines for tour ism EIA are

ava il ab le f rom Sharma ( 1995) & S inha ( 1998). Recen tl y emer gi ng

methodologies for ecological/environmental/ social /economic/cultural

indicators will be used, wherever necessary.

The following is a tentative list of such indicators:

Ecological/enviro nmental indicators indicators of pollution and

disturbance, ecological footprints , odor, smell , noise level , raise in

tempera ture , a ir quali ty , water quali ty /t as te /color , percentage

treatment of wastes generated, habitat fragmentation, percentage

vegetation cover and divers i ty, length of motorable roads in the

vicinity, behavioral abnormalities of wildlife abnormal changes in


14


15/29

growth, health, reproductive potential , feeding habits , distr ibution/

migra tion/ d ispersal / regenera tion pat te rns, invas ion of exoti c

species, bio-diversity of birds, butterflies and other indicators.

Socio-cultural/economic indicators ch anges in th e visitors

f requency of v is it s/ st ay durat ion, v is itor densi ty / percept ion,

frequency of second visi ts , viewing pattern, improvements in basic

infrastructural faci l i t ies , percentage of locals employed in tourism,

disposable income /debt burden, changes in local life-styles, leisure

avail able and accumulat ion of asset s of the local communi ti es ,

percentage contribution of the local goods/food to the tourists

consumption, etc.

As a part of planning process key stake holding departments (especial ly

Department of Tour ism, Govt . of Pondicherry, PT&TDC, Pondicherry

Forest department, INTACH, ASI, etc) and personnel will be contacted and

necessary permission in writ ing wil l be obtained from them to visi t the

protected areas and oth er evidences, to access their documents as well as to

ensure official recognit ion, 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 th e 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

quest ion t ypes i n var ious ways a re t o be used t o d ra ft a compet en t

questionnaire. A pilot study would be conducted using the questionnaire and

the structured interview to test the effectiveness of the method. Necessary


15


16/29


17/29

after the project is over using the student manpower from Tourism, Ecology

and Sustainable Development Departments of Pondicherry Universi ty to

observe the changes or t rends in the pr imary data. In addi t ion, the pas t

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 s ize would l ike to cover at leas t 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 r espondents and d if ferent p laces in the des tina tion areas wil l be

recorded using a digital camera for analysis and reference purposes.

Time Budget Analys is (TBA), problem / objective tree analysis and

gender analysis will be done for the randomly chosen households in

the selected human settlements using the methodologies suggested

by ADB (1994), Wi lliams (1994) and Mikkelson (19 95). Analysis of

TBA will reveal the time activity pattern of the target population and

also indicates their 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 th e objective tree to solve the problems. Gender analysis is a

powerful tool for an y su stainable development pro gram 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

analysi s. Triangula tion of quali ta tive and quant it at ive f indings wil l

defini tely enrich the f inal outcome. Interested local s take holders wil l be

i dent if ied and act ivel y invo lved i n the p rocess o f dat a col lect ion,

verification/validation, analysis and interpretation to the maximum possible


17


18/29

extent, t raining them, i f necessary. This wi ll ensure that there wil l 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 Universi ty 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 wil l review the progress of the research once in three months,

based on the interim pro gress reports and advise the research team su itably.

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 inst i tut ions involved is given in the Appendix

along with the bio-data of the investigators.

The broad d iv is ion of some of the impor tant output r espons ib il it ies

associated with the project is as follows:

S.No Executing Agent Output Responsibility

1

First Investigator

Construction of a tourism /

environment database

Environmental

education/interpretation program

Training and technical assistance

on sustainable tourism and ecotourism

for selected groups

Inter-institutional coordination in

tourism and environment

2 Construction a tourism / socio-


18


19/29

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

tourism

Corporate Social responsibility

3 DoT, Pondicherry Facilitation in constructing the

databases

Inter-departmental coordination

within Govt.

5. PROJECT QUALITY CONTROL

We have devised an inbui l t mechanism to make sure that the project i s

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 f lawless processes adopted in

the interim stages of the project wil l yield a f lawless f inished 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 self-

assessment of the achievements, impacts , and lessons learned during the

project implementation. The specific aims of th e evaluation are to:

Assess the effec tiveness , e ff ic iency and t imel iness of pro ject

implementation

Evaluate the impact of project activities and related outputs,

including their contribution to the overall goal of the project

Determine the project s relevance in relation to the needs of theDevelop ing Sus ta inab le Tou r i sm in Pond icher ry UT: Po l icy , P lann ing , Imp lemen ta t ion , and Mon i to r ing

19


20/29


21/29

Table 1 ANNUAL WORK-PLAN

S.No Name of the activity Q -1 Q -2 Q-3 Q -4

1 Preliminary/Preparation work **

2 Exploratory visits **

3 Selecting study Areas, Preparation of

questionnaires obtaining permissions

and net working

** **

4 Training courses **

5 Conducting pilot studies **

6 Refining /redesigning research plan **7 Conducting field survey including

EIA/SCBA

** **

8 Compiling and Analyzing the data **

9 Stake holder consultations ** ** ** **

10 National workshop **

11 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 sus ta inable /eco touri sm ventures ( especial ly

community based/run) will ensure equitable distribution of benefits without

compromising the conservation concerns of that area.

Gover nment o f Indi a i n gener al and s ome Mi ni st ri es i n par ti cu la r,

especial ly, Tourism and Environment and Forests , have been encouraging

sustainable tourism strategies for quite a long t ime. The objective is to

ensure regulated growth of sustainable tourism and ecotourism with their

posi tive impacts of environmen tal protection and community development.


21


22/29

The sustainable tourism initiatives proposed by us are thus well in tune with

these objectives.

Exi st ing p ract ices t es ti fy t ha t eco -cul tu ra l t ou ri sm devel ops a t a

considerable speed and divers i fies cont inuously in a mult ifaceted 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 imp ro ving the quality of life of th e local

communi ti es . Our ini ti at ive wil l cer ta in ly l ead to improvements in

environmental quali ty and wil l faci l i tate the regeneration of local natural

resources /biodiversi ty/cul tural divers i ty. Our programs wil l faci li tate

organic linkages between tourism, conservation, and local livelihoods. The

Pondicherry Tour ism and Transport Development Corporation and the

Public Works Depar tment, Government of Pondicher ry , may use the

research findings for regulating the conventional tourism activities on long

term sustainable basis as well as for initiating new ecotourism projects.

Enterpr is ing but poor local communi ty groups wil l be ident if ied and

motivated to ini t iate community based ecotourism and other al ternative

l ivelihood enterpr ises in thei r areas wi th assis tance f rom the ongoing

developmental programs of the Government , such as Sel f Help Groups .

Selected youths shall be imparted sustainable guide training and we believe

a learning mult ipl ier effect f rom such an input. The growing interes t in

community tourism development is p aralleled by a switch of emphasis away

from large automatic grants to attract inward investment projects, towards

smal l f i rms, and indigenous development. The promotion of smal l and

medium enterprises by governmental authori t ies 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 smal l and medium communi ty or iented eco

cultural tourism enterprises performed far better than their behemothal ,


22


23/29

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, wo rkshops, networking,

e tc . Ample exposure wil l be provided for a ll the s takeholder s to the

emerging challenges facing the tourism industry, which is s truggling to

meet the twin conflicting ends of sustainability and growth. This will aid

the s takeholders in various capacit ies in evolving Dos and Don ts for

planning, implementing, monitoring, and practicing regulated mass tourism

in their regions. Formal training and capacity building of the staff from

PT&TDC and o ther r elated s take holders the var ious p layers in the

touri sm indus try ( such as t ransport , accommodation , and services) ,

Pondicherry Forest Department, PWD, DST&E, Pondicherry Municipality,

DRDA, Social Welfare, Town & Country Planning Department , etc i s

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 thei r

periphery, in regional marketing, in visitor interpretati on, and eventually in

building a Vi sitor Inform ation Network (VI N) .

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 init iative can enable the indust ry to compete successful ly for

at tract ing this set of domest ic and international tour ists who wi ll not

hes i tate to pay a heavy premium for the enhanced qual i ty of the tour is t

product. Private tour operators and travel agencies ma y find our research

outcome useful in introducing/modifying /expanding their ventures and


23


24/29

evolving partnerships with local community groups directly and indirectly

involved in touri sm, especia lly for marketing of indigenous touri sm

products. SME net working and cooperative alliances to ma rket oth erwise

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 univers ity s tudent communi ty. They would be motivated to

involve themselves in greening the tourism industry of Pondicherry (by

assigning f ield projects, summer internships, and by enabl ing them to

participate in the semin ars, confer en ces, training courses, and wo rkshops to

be organized). If needed, the scheme may be extended to students from

other insti tutions, especial ly the undergraduate colleges aff il iated to the

University.

In course of t ime, the output of the study could get generalized and such

s tandardized 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 Terri tor ies as wel l . Incidental ly, the recent

meet ing of the State ministers of Tour ism has emphasized the need for

embracing sustainable tourism paths, thus indicating the political will for a

change. Thus, we can c lea rl y f or es ee a day when Pondi cher ry wil l

eventually emerge as a p ioneer ing l eader in promoting ecologica lly

sustainable and socially equi table tour ism s trategies not only for the

Southern tourism circuit but also for the first time in our country.

Table 2 PROJECT BUDGET (for pha se 1 to be funded by the

De partme nt of Tourism, Govt. of Po ndicherry )

a) Salaries & Wages


24


25/29

S .N o D es ig na tio n N o Am ou nt

(Rs.)

1 S eni or Projec t F ellow s/R es earc h Associates

@ Rs. 10000 P.M

2 240000

2 Field Technical Assistants

@ Rs. 3,000

4 1,44,000

4 Field assistants (non-technical) @ Rs 100 per day X

100 days

N.A. 10,000

Sub total 3,94,000

b) Permanent Equipment

S.No Equipment No. Amount

(Rs.)

1 Laptop Notebook (PIV, 256 RAM, 4 0 GB, Combo

Drive) with wireless internet connectivity

2 1,40,000.00

2 Digi tal Camera - 8 mega Pixel 1 35,000.00

3 Audio recorders @ Rs. 2000 4 8,000.00

5 Field Binocular 1 5,000.00

Sub Total 1,88,000.00

c) Expendables

S.No Item Amount

(Rs.)

1 CDs, Floppies, Stationeries 20,000.00

2 Communication Expenses

E mai l, Cou ri er , Cel l p ho ne , i nt ernent con nec ti on s, Pos ta l

charges

20,000.00

Sub Total 40,000.00

d) Travel and allowances

S .N o D es ig na tio n Am ou nt


25


26/29

(Rs.)

1 Investigators

@ Rs6000 per visi t X 6 visi ts (other regions of UT)

36,000

2 Senior Research Fellow

@ Rs. 5000 per visi t x 12 visi ts

60,000

3 Field Technical Assistant

@ Rs. 2000 per visi t X 12 visi ts

24,000

Sub Total 1,20000*

e) Other project costs

S.No Activity Amount

(Rs.)

1 O rg ani zi ng St ak eh old er me et in gs , P RA exe rc is es 8 m ee ti ng s @

Rs.5000 per meeting

40,000

2 Purchasing books, data , journals etc 10,000

3 Training courses for the PT&TDC staff 50,000

4 Training course for the project staff 25,000

5 Preparation of Report 25,000

6 Contingencies 20,000

Sub total 1,70,000***

BUDGET SUMMARY

S.No Activity Amount

(Rs.)

1 Salaries & Wages 3,94,000

2 Permanent equipments 1,84,000

3 Expendables 40,000

4 Travel and Allowances 1,20000**

5 Other Project Cost 1,70,000

6 Insti tutional overheads (15 % of the total cost) 146400

Grand Total 10,54,400

* We would be able to mobi l ize addi t ional funds for subsequent phases

(monitoring and replicat ion to other s i tes in the UT & other s tates/UTs)

from other funding agencies such as

UGC, AICTE, MHRD, etc. f rom Govt of India as wel l as DFID, CIDA,

ADB, WTO, WB, etc. based on the progress made during the final phases of

the present project.


26


27/29

** Ma y be red uced if we a re p ermi tte d to use PT&TDC tra nsp ort

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 th e tourism in dustry (separate budget requirements have

to be worked out; probably, it could be sought as industry funding)

Table 3 BUDGET JUSTIFICATION

Budget Head JustificationsSPFs / RAs For supervision and synthesizing the

results

Field Technical Assistants For collecting and analyzing the data

Field Assistants For collecting air, soil and watersamples and as local surveyassistants for PRA

Travel allowance (Petrol bill for 2 wheeler) For visiting the destination areas/offices to collect data /samples

L ap to p N ot eb oo k w it h w ir el es s i nt er ne t

connectivity

For DBMS, networking, extension andtraining (1 each at PU & CTS for PI &COI)

Digital Camera For collecting /storing digital imagesof destination areas for training, EIAstudies

Audio recorders For recording/retrieval of keyinterviews

Field Binocular For observing, identifying & studyingthe wild life and for assessing theimpacts of tourism


27


28/29

Computer CDs, Floppies For storing voluminous information

A4 Paper (Bond) For report preparation, publications

Miscellaneous expenses (incidentals) Incidental minor expenses such aspostage, Fax, Phone etc.

Xeroxing For Xeroxing relevant publications

Books & Journals For updating our knowledge

Project report preparation For submission

Project overheads (25% of the salary) To be handed over to our Universityas per our requirements as servicecharges

APPENDIX

A. Institutional Affiliation of the Project Investigators

Pondicherry Un iversity , establ ished in the year 1985 is of fering Post -

graduate, M.Phi l and Ph.D. programmes in f ronti er a reas of Art s andSciences. A new common sophisticated instrumentation center for detailed

analysis of soil , water and body t issues is being set up. Our l ibrary can

boast of th e best books and Journals on all available subjects. Ou r campus

has a faster Internet connectivity and campus Intranet for all Faculty.

De partme nt of Ecol ogy and Envi ronmental Scienc es of Pondicherry

Universi ty was established in the year 1987. The broad objectives of this

s trongly inter -d iscipl inary department inc lude t eaching, r esearch,

consul tancy and extens ion in key areas of basic and appl ied Ecology.

Besides, the local ecosystem s tudies , 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


28


29/29

management i ssues , sus tainable management of natural resources and

Ecosyst ems, sust ai nabl e t ou ri sm and Agr o- ecol ogy. The p ri nc ipal

investigator of the proposed project is associated with this department as a

reader. Recent ly , UGC has sanct ioned an innovat ive MA program on

Sus ta inab le Devel opment i n t he Uni ve rs it y, i n wh ich t he p ri nc ipal

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 Touri sm Studies (CTS) of Pondicher ry Univers ity 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 al lied industries as well as to undertake

high end research in these fields. From its inception, CTS has been doing a

commendable work in the di rection of fulf il ling i ts exal ted mission. I t

offers an MBA as well as an MPhil program in tourism and its products are

wel l received by the academia and the industry. Throughout, CTS has

collaborated with the State administrat ion of tourism in matters l ike the

formulation i ts 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***

29

Pondicherry Tourism Proposal

Documents

Transcript of Pondicherry Tourism Proposal