India creates sustainable tourism partnership
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India’s Ministry of Tourism has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ecotourism Society of India (ESOI), with the aim of advancing its sustainable tourism efforts.
Suman Billa, joint secretary of the Ministry of Tourism, and Steve Borgia, president of ESOI, signed the agreement in the presence of Vinod Zutshi, secretary of Ministry of Tourism.
The ministry and ESOI started the process a couple of years ago when they formulated and published the Sustainable Tourism Criteria for India (STCI). Under the latest agreement, ESOI will prepare a 10-year road map for advocacy and certification under the STCI. The road map will be based on regional workshops held with stakeholders across the country.
ESOI, through stakeholder consultations, will formulate the criteria and classification guidelines for certification in the accommodation and tour operation sectors. Standards for destinations will be developed in a later stage of the project, in line with global sustainable tourism criteria.
The Ministry of Tourism is planning to position India as a global ecotourism destination.
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