Indian Hills Are Overcrowded, Littered With Garbage — But It Can Be Different With The Right Measures In Place

In the past few months, reports of landslides from Kerala, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand have brought the attention of concerned citizens to the state of India’s hills. The news reports of the loss of lives and livelihoods have highlighted the critical concern of anthropological climate change.

Extreme weather events caused due to unplanned urbanisation, excess emissions and seismic stress have raised a simple question: can our hill towns thrive if they can't survive? Tourism has emerged as a prominent contributor to the local economy.

However, this form of tourism has been far from sustainable. India’s hill states require a tourism policy which addresses the dilemma of ensuring growth while minimising damage to the climate — consider a high-value tourism policy.

The concept of a high-value tourism policy originates from Bhutan. The Bhutanese government restricts the number of tourists in exchange for a greater per capita earning from the tourists it welcomes. This way it is able to generate economic growth in addition to preserving the local culture and ecology.

Such pecuniary restrictions may not be possible in India, where the citizens have the constitutional right to freedom of movement and the moral right to take pleasure in India’s hills. However, the idea of targeting high-value tourists is still feasible, given the fact that luxury tourism is poised to grow by 8.1 per cent CAGR. 

High-Value Tourism: The Premise

The basic premise of a high-value tourism policy is that the state government will incentivise the redevelopment of tourism hotspots in line with international best practices of sustainable tourism. They may simultaneously also develop new hill towns with the appropriate civic amenities to relieve pressure on existing and overburdened hill stations.

At the unit level, these measures can be sustainable practices such as adopting solar or wind energy, introducing waste segregation systems, water recycling and treatment through integrated design and the use of sustainable building materials for better insulation, reduced transportation costs and boosting the circular economy.

Such ideas can also be implemented collectively by a group of hotels and local communities to share costs and experience the benefits of scale. At the policy level, a high-value tourism policy can incorporate following the international best practices for managing public commons, waste and the viability of the business model.

Community Building and Culture Preservation

The high-value tourism policy will include innovative urban planning and governance to protect the natural and cultural heritage of tourist destinations. For example, Aspen, Colorado, has implemented rules that control land use, building practices, and resource management while engaging the community through awareness campaigns and financial incentives.

This approach has created a culture of sustainability, where residents see the connection between their well-being and destinations' pristine environment, promoting eco-friendly behaviours. To further protect our hills’ sensitive local cultures, arts and crafts classes can be offered to personalise the association of clients with local customs- while monetising a way of life.  

Paying-As-You-Throw

The policy will incentivise cleanliness and efficient waste management by adding a financial cost to waste disposal at the source of waste creation. Consider Switzerland’s Pay-As-You-Throw scheme where residents pay for waste collection based on the amount of waste they produce, rather than a flat fee. This incentivises reducing, reusing and recycling.

A modified version of this can be introduced where if the waste is efficiently cleaned and segregated then certain types of waste such as glass or plastic can even be sold to reprocessing plants- thereby reducing the cost of waste disposal and supporting circular economy initiatives. 

Carbon Credits Loyalty Programmes

The policy can also introduce novel interventions to support sustainable businesses financially. For example, a carbon credits trading scheme can be introduced as a revenue stream. Sustainable hotels can further decide to use the credits to offer loyalty programmes to patrons and subsidise repeat visits. Larger hotel chains, in particular, could leverage these programs to enhance guest loyalty while promoting sustainability across multiple locations. 

Technology Integration

To enhance the novelty associated with ‘nature first’ businesses, technology can be a great facilitator. For example, interactive maps can be designed to give the patrons information about nearby bins. Augmented reality databases can be developed in mobile apps to convey information to patrons about the flora and fauna. IoT-based sensor devices can be used to aid in the segregation of waste. 

A high-value tourism policy will help mitigate the harmful environmental impacts of tourism while rejuvenating local economies and societies with avenues of employment. It will require state governments to partner with private players and community leaders, while rebranding their state tourism programmes as sustainability motivated.

Such a policy is the need of the hour as environmental risks are existential risks. It is high time we approach our hills and valleys as stewards and not explorers- wanderlust with wisdom.