The World Tourism Organization defines sustainable tourism as “tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and host communities”. India has emerged as one of the fastest growing locations for tourism due to improved access to distant locations, larger disposable income and rising lifestyle aspirations of the domestic population and increased number of international tourists.

However, region-specific constraints exist with regard to sustainable tourism. These include:

• Coastal tourism:
  • Weak enforcement of coastal regulations has led to haphazard extension of accommodation facilities beyond carrying capacities of these areas, especially in the eastern coast such as in Digha (West Bengal) and Puri (Odisha).
  • Biodiversity in coastal areas such as corals are threatened due to an increase in activities like snorkelling, scuba diving, etc. which are largely under-regulated.
  • Increasing frequency and intensity of cyclones on the eastern coast is another major constraint.
• Himalayan tourism: Huge influx of adventure enthusiasts and other tourists confined during the summer months especially, translates to greater anthropogenic pressure. This results in increased air pollution, water pollution, generation of waste beyond the handling capacity of regions, such as in the case of Shimla and Manali.
• North-East region: Issues like poverty, insurgency as well as limited infrastructural facilities have thus far prevented the North-East region from realizing its full tourism potential.
• Eco-tourism: Wildlife or nature-based tourism is growing in India, especially in North and Central India due to increased tiger sightings. But, the following constraints restrict sustainable tourism:
  • National parks such as Ranthambore, Kanha and Pench face severe water shortage in the summer months, as luxury tourist resorts overuse the water resources.
  • Local people get only seasonal employment and the major share of profits are cornered by resort owners.
  • Rapidly changing land use outside the national parks coupled with heavy vehicular traffic is rapidly changing and impacting wildlife movement.
  • Major natural World Heritage Sites namely the Western Ghats, Sundarbans National Park and Manas Wildlife Sanctuary are facing threats from mining activities, oil and gas exploration, dam construction and unsustainable water use.
• Religious and cultural tourism:
  • Religious places in India observe mass gathering, which, at times, is beyond the carrying capacity of the region thus generating huge amounts of solid waste such as plastic bottles, coconut shells, hair, etc.
  • States like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have multiple sites for cultural tourism, however, they lag behind when it comes to the safety and security of the tourists, connectivity and basic infrastructure and lack of marketing about the region.

In the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, SDG target 8.9 aims to devise and implement policies to promote sustainable tourism. In this regard, the Ministry of Tourism has launched the National Strategy for Sustainable Tourism and Responsible Traveller Campaign.