Tag Archives: Ecotourism Society of India

Vinod Zutshi, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, launched the Implementation of the Sustainable Tourism Criteria for India (STCI) in association with Ecotourism Society of India (ESOI). He recalled the MoU signed in March 2016 between ESOI and Government of India to launch the STCI programme across the country. Zutshi indicated the importance given to sustainable tourism in the National Tourism Policy that is to be released soon. Speaking on the occasion, Steve Borgia, President, ESOI, hailed the commitment shown by  Ministry of Tourism. India is one of the few countries in the world to have a criteria of its own. C.B. Ramkumar, Board member, Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria (GSTC) presented the  global picture and also suggested the direction which India could go in this regard. The STCI was curated with the need for developing criteria for sustainable tourism specific to India given the environment that the tourism industry operates in.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed between the Ministry of Tourism, Govt. Of India and the Ecotourism Society of India (ESOI) to propagate the cause of responsible and sustainable tourism to the next level. Vinod Zutshi, Secretary – Tourism, said, “ESOI works towards promoting sustainable and responsible tourism practices so we have joined hands with them since our agendas are the same. ESOI will partner with us and assist in sensitising the travel trade first, and then the general public.” It was also announced that a 10-year road map for advocacy and certification under the Sustainable Tourism Criteria for India will be charted. Steve Borgia, Honorary President, ESOI, said, “This MoU is also going to set a plan-of-action for the next 10 years for sustainable and responsible tourism.  The planning needs to be aggressive. Regional workshops will also be organised at various cities all over India with different guidelines for each destination.” ESOI, through stakeholder consultations will formulate criteria and classification guidelines for certification for the accommodation and tour/travel operators within the STCI guidelines and later develop standards for destinations which will also be in sync with the internationally accepted Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria. The two bodies previously formulated and published the Sustainable Tourism Criteria for India (STCI) and plan to put these practices to the forefront through the MoU.