Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve - Equitable Tourism Options

saving rare and precious resources, in particular water and energy, as well
as avoiding so far as possible waste production, should be given priority and
encouraged by national, regional and local public authorities.
The Global Code of Ethics in Tourism, Article 5: Tourism, a beneficial
activity for host countries and communities states that: 1. Local populations
should be associated with tourism activities and share equitably in the
economic, social and cultural benefits they generate, and particularly in the
creation of direct and indirect jobs resulting from them.
GATS and Tourism
While discussions on sustainable tourism development is taking place at one
level there are widespread apprehensions on the happenings in conjunction
with the global trade regimes. The General Agreements on Trade and
Services (GATS) challenges the conservation and regulatory mechanisms
envisaged for sustainable tourism development.
Under the GATS classification of 12 service sectors, Tourism comes under
the 9th category of "Tourism and travel related services". This is further
divided into
• Hotels and restaurants (including catering)
• Travel agencies and tour operators' services;
• Tourist guide services; and,
• Other [unspecified)
Environment in the GATS
The environment is one of the basic resources of the tourism industry, as
most forms of tourism are largely based on natural assets, such as beaches,
the sea, mountains, forests, rivers or wildlife. Thus, environmental
degradation can threaten the viability of the industry. Domestic governments
under increasing pressure from critical groups may introduce protective
measures in ecologically fragile areas. Pressures could be from
Multinational Environmental Agreements and critical groupings within the
country. Such measures could include limitations on the extent of Tourism
activities in the area like a limit on the number of tourist excursions,
limitations on the number of resorts, or even certain concessions given to
particular firms if they commit to employing local people and contribute to
conservation activities in the area. These kinds of limitations, even if they are
applied so as notto discriminate between local