Tag Archives: governance

Vanuatu Tourism Gets a Reboot

Naluandance, Malekula culture. All photos Courtesy of the Vanuatu Department of Tourism

The pandemic has caused massive disruption to the tourism industry around the world. But it has also created an opportunity for destinations to reboot the sector to move forward in a more thoughtful and sustainable way. Here, Geoff Hyde shares how Vanuatu is doing just that. 

Living its Ni-Vanuatu Values: Vanuatu Plans for Resilience, Agritourism, and Cruise Reform

“I rely on volcano tours for my livelihood but I also want to protect my family and community from getting sick from Covid,” said a local guide at a recent tourism workshop in Ambrym, Vanuatu. Indeed, Vanuatu’s Department of Tourism (DoT), in conjunction with public health officials, has been conducting workshops around the country to deliver the twin messages of business survival through financial grants while following health protocols, including vaccinations, to provide safe business and community environments when borders reopen. 

Located in the South Pacific, Vanuatu has a strong and authentic Melanesian culture and an abundance of natural assets within its 83 islands. Closure of international borders has plunged the economy into a serious socio-economic crisis. Like most small island states, Vanuatu has been heavily dependent on its tourism sector.

Gaua Beach, Torba Province.

Economic Reliance on Tourism

According to World Bank data, from 2016-18, Vanuatu had the eighth highest proportion of tourism receipts and the seventh-highest direct contribution of tourism to GDP. More recent pre-Covid 2019 tourism statistics from the World Travel and Tourism Council, show the direct and indirect contributions of tourism in Vanuatu accounted for 48% of GDP (Vt 46.8 billion). This data, combined with over 135,000 cruise ship arrivals in 2019 add another Vt 2.1 billion to Vanuatu’s economy (DoT Sustainable Cruise Tourism Plan, 2020.) All totalled, these statistics reveal a high level of reliance on the tourism sector.  

Tam-Tams in the Nasara sacred Rom Dance Ground.

Such a dependency was recognised by the Vanuatu DoT well before the pandemic hit. From 2016, the DoT had been planning for and implementing a more sustainable and diversified approach to tourism development. Funded through NZAid, the Vanuatu Strategic Tourism Action Plan produced the Vanuatu Sustainable Tourism Policy 2019-2030, a key initial project informed by nationwide stakeholder consultation. A vital piece of this policy included its Vision, which states, “To protect and celebrate Vanuatu’s unique environment, culture, kastom [traditional, authentic culture], and people through sustainable and responsible tourism” with its goals and objectives based on a set of these shared values:

“Tourism in Vanuatu embraces the traditional and formal economies; it provides sustainable growth by strengthening national and community resilience with the ultimate goal of delivering equitable economic, social, cultural and environmental benefits for Vanuatu and its people.”

Vanuatu’s Crisis Response in Action

In response to the international border closure, the DoT quickly established the Tourism Crisis Response and Recovery Advisory Committee comprising government representatives, including the Director of Public Health, and private sector stakeholders. Tourism sector policy advice and information was then fed into the National Disaster Management Committee. 

This resulted in two planning documents with action plans: 

  • The Immediate Safety, Response and Economic Recovery Plan, May to December 2020 for short term responses delivered under the five pillars of health, access, product, marketing, and communications; and 
  • the Tourism Crises Response and Recovery Plan, 2020 to 2023 which became part of – and is now – being implemented through the Vanuatu Sustainable Tourism Strategy 2021 to 2025.  Following four themes, the VSTS is more aligned to the GSTC Destination Criteria, the National Sustainable Development Plan, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals:
    • Wellbeing: through High Value, Low Impact Tourism 
    • Resilience: through Niche Tourism Product Development
    • Diversification: through Agritourism
    • Sustainability: through Certification, Investment and Ni-Vanuatu Entrepreneurship

Despite the setbacks from the pandemic, the DoT has been further encouraged and inspired to implement this sustainable tourism strategy and program as part of the recovery process. This will help diversify the product and create resilience within the tourism sector. Under the VSTS, DoT and its partners are now implementing sustainable tourism programs, utilising one or more of the above themes. 

The programs are:

Tourism Business Support Program (TBSP) – launched in March 2021 and managed by DoT through a representative Steering Committee. The TBSP provides financial support and technical assistance for eligible tourism businesses to survive the pandemic’s impacts and have them ready to receive tourists when borders reopen. The eligibility criteria encourage tourism businesses to follow the principles of sustainable and responsible tourism by signing a code of conduct promoting product diversification and increasing local benefits. Financial assistance is available in these categories:

  • Tourism Business Survival Grants: for costs associated with cleaning, maintenance, gardening, security, safety, and utility bills.
  • Renewable Energy Subsidy Scheme: for equipment and appliance purchasing through the National Green Energy Fund.
  • Agritourism Support Program: assistance for selected projects that have integrated the tourism and agriculture sectors into their products. For example, the famed Jungle Zipline attraction is now diversifying into cacao and macadamia nut production to supply local chocolate manufacturers and develop tours when borders reopen.

Safe Business Operations (SBO) Training Program – commenced in October 2020, SBO is mandatory industry training across all sectors to ensure workplace compliance with the health and safety protocols for Covid-19. To date, training workshops and awareness sessions have been delivered to over 2,000 participants in 1,323 businesses across all provinces. SBO is managed by DoT in partnership with the Department of Public Health, the Australia Pacific Training Coalition, the Vanuatu Chamber of Commerce and Industry, World Vision Vanuatu, Vanuatu Institute of Technology, and Vanuatu Skills Partnership.

Agritourism Support Program – encourages diversification and resilience by integrating agriculture and tourism products. It attempts to create a point of difference with Vanuatu’s local cuisine through the ‘Traditional Cuisine Revival Program’ and the ‘Slow Food Educational Program.’ The latter aims to increase the use of local,

Sign at a handicraft market.

sustainable, and organic produce within the tourism industry and raise the nutritional quality of food served to tourists. The DoT is implementing a business mentoring program for 27 local businesses who have now formed the Vanuatu Agritourism Association. This includes business planning, management and digital marketing, as well as presentations on the SBO and TBSP. 

Cruise Tourism Product Development Program – has been implementing the Vanuatu Sustainable Cruise Tourism Plan adopted in March 2020. The Government of Vanuatu is adopting a stronger presence in the  management and control of the cruise tourism segment under ‘high value–low impact’ sustainable tourism principles. The DoT has also recently commissioned independent local consultants to undertake a feasibility study for an Expedition ship to be based in Vanuatu to develop a ‘fly-cruise’ product more conducive to sustainable tourism principles and increased Ni-Vanuatu benefits. A more representative management committee, chaired by DoT, has been established to implement a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the two main cruise companies, Carnival and Royal Caribbean. This MOA was independently reviewed by Sustainable Seas Ltd (UK) and includes references to the GSTC Destination Criteria.

Geoff HydeMr. Geoff Hyde M.Sc. (Tourism Planning/Development Economics), B.A. (Leisure Planning) is the Managing Director and Principal Consultant of Sustainable Tourism International Ltd. (STIL), a tourism consultancy company dedicated to the principles of sustainable tourism as a tool for socio-economic development. He has spent 30 years as a Tourism Sector Adviser and the last five years as the Technical Adviser to the Vanuatu Department of Tourism.

A Himalayan Village Takes Charge of Its Future

After witnessing unprecedented environmental damage, and despite pressure from tourism investors, the Indian village of Sharchi put regulations in place to limit unbridled growth in its attractive Himalayan valley. Aditi Chanchani and Sandeeep Minhas detail how the valley’s village councils are coming together to protect the region’s nature, culture, and its very future.

Stakeholders gather in the Sharchi Village for a discussion on tourism at the Gram Sabha Meeting. [Photo courtesy of Aditi Chanchani]

Strengthening Tourism Governance: First Step to Sustainability

The Tirthan and Sainj Valleys of the Himalayas are in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh in the Kullu District and adjoin the Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP). While this area has long been popular within the trekking community, it gained prominence on the tourist map about a decade ago and got further impetus when GHNP gained inscription as an UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2014. Markers of unplanned and unsustainable tourism development are on the rise in the Tirthan Valley, with the growth of hotels, resorts, campsites, hostels, and homestays on the periphery of the park’s boundaries.

Disasters in the Indian Himalayan region have increased in intensity and pace, with landslides blocking roads and rivers, leading to the loss of lives, livelihoods, and property. So far in 2021, Himachal Pradesh witnessed 35 major landslides (as compared to 16 in 2020), cloudburst occurrences have increased by 121% (around 30 this year), and there have been 17 incidents of flash floods (9 in 2020). Climate change and anthropogenic activities, with tourism being a contributor, are mainly responsible for the massive destruction that we are currently witnessing. Ironically, even during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic when travel came to a standstill, the four-laning of highways and construction of tunnels, ropeways, hotels, and homestays continued unabated, especially in the remote regions of the state.

Tourism in the mountain regions is dependent on forests, grasslands, and natural ecosystems as well as human societies and cultures. The impact of excessive, unregulated tourism has resulted in unplanned urbanisation, loss of traditional livelihoods, severe and lop-sided demands on scarce and fragile natural resources (forests, water, and land), deforestation, pollution, traffic jams, and spiralling prices. The safety of women and children and the loss of cultural traditions remains a constant fear.

What tourists come for: The view into the Great Himalayan National Park. [Photo courtesy of Aditi Chanchani]

Enabling Governance Makes a Difference

In India, there is no specific legislation for tourism that is all encompassing (and maybe rightly so, given the multi-faceted nature of this sector, and the needs of different geographies and cultures). There are however two legislations that provide a framework for the planning and regulation of tourism at the local level.

  • First, the Panchayati Raj Act (1994), which allows for the organization of village councils (called Panchayats) and endows them with the authority to function as units of self-government.
  • Second, the Scheduled Tribes and Other Traditional Forest Dwellers Act (2006), which empowers holders of forest rights to protect, preserve, regulate, and put a halt to or refuse to allow any activity that has detrimental impact on the wildlife, forest, biodiversity of the area and which negatively affects their natural heritage and culture.

Construction is underway to build in lanes for the Kullu Highway. [Photo courtesy of Aditi Chanchani]

With 66% of the geographical area of Himachal Pradesh covered with forests and with ample examples of negative impacts of tourism, the village councils (called the Gram Panchayats), the village assembly (called the Gram Sabha)[1] and the Conservation and Management Committees[2] have become key institutions for the planning and governance of tourism in and around forest areas.

Sharchi Village Decides to Regulate Tourism

On the boundary of the GHNP in Himachal Pradesh, Sharchi village, with a population of only 2,413, has taken a stand to prevent the exploitation of the environment and to protect the aesthetic value of the village.

In the past year, residents have seen a drastic increase in the sale of land with scenic views of the GHNP, mainly by people outside the state who wish to start tourism businesses.[3] This has propelled the Sharchi Panchayat (village council) to plan and regulate tourism and curtail commercialisation while preserving the natural landscape and cultural traditions of the area.

Other Villages Join In

In July 2021, seven Panchayats of the Tirthan Valley passed a resolution that to open a tourism business requires a No Objection Certificate, or a written permission, from the local Panchayat. They also decided that the construction of hospitality units will be limited to a maximum of 10 rooms. This decision created a stir among tourism developers who had already invested in land or planned to invest in the area, and who now feared restrictions. The district’s Deputy Commissioner[4] was roped in to intervene.

Recognising that tourism impacts go far beyond that of just hotel construction, SAHARA [5] (Society for Scientific Advancement of Hill and Rural Areas) and Himalaya Niti Abhiyan, two civil society organisations, are working with the region’s communities to further their understanding of tourism and its impacts. The hope is to work towards a long-term, sustainable, and mature tourism plan able to withstand the ever-increasing impacts of tourism on the environmental, economic, and socio-cultural resources of the region.

Both organizations worked together with the Sharchi Village to prepare a memorandum to the Deputy Commissioner. A public notice was also posted inviting comments and suggestions.

Key points in the memorandum included:

  • Tourism is developed and promoted so as to respect the land, its people, and natural and cultural heritage.
  • Tourism development is undertaken with people’s consent, keeping to their views for how tourism should develop.
  • Planning and implementation processes are transparent, participatory, and inclusive, and local tourism policy respects people’s vision and aspirations.
  • Tourism is regulated, and decisions and norms developed by local communities and local governance bodies are upheld.
  • People’s rights over common and community property resources and natural resources are ensured.
  • Tourism is developed based on the carrying capacity of the region.
  • Local ownership is strong, small and medium enterprises are vibrant, local employment and local economies are stimulated by tourism development.
  • Tourism is culturally sensitive, striving to balance the need for commercial viability with the supporting and reviving of cultural traditions, arts, and crafts. The sacred spaces of the local deities (Nagaddi) are protected.
  • Tourism industry does not expropriate communities’ land, water, or natural resources, nor alienate or displace people from traditional livelihoods.
  • Tourism practices ensure responsible use of resources, low energy use, effective waste management, and minimum negative impact on the environment.

On August 30th, a meeting was held with the District Commissioner, who was positive about the steps that the community has taken. However, implementation depends on approvals from the Gram Sabha, District Administration, and State Government. As of publication, these meetings are pending.

Villagers practice the ceremony of welcoming the Devtas (Gods) during a festival in Jamad Village. [Photo courtesy of Aditi Chanchani]

The Way Forward

The next few years are crucial, as it will define the tourism trajectory of these remote regions of Himachal Pradesh. The people of Sharchi are not against tourism or businesses that would like to operate in the area, but they see this as a matter of their rights and the survival of their culture. SAHARA, Himalaya Niti Abhiyan, and the Panchayats are working on a sustainable tourism policy and action plan for the Valleys that involves all, both rightsholders and stakeholders (as the impact will be felt cumulatively). Additionally, they see the need to put in place institutional mechanisms that consider, and in fact accord primacy, to constitutionally guaranteed governance structures.

The people of Sharchi have taken a step in the right direction to embark on the long road towards achieving sustainable tourism. We will face many trials and tribulations, but we hope that we are able to stay on the path we have chosen.

Authors Aditi Chanchani and Sandeeep Minhas are associated with Himalaya Niti Abhiyan, a collective of grassroot people’s resistance defending local livelihoods, environment, and social equity with the idea of a sustainable mountain-specific development model. A key area of their work has been to advocate and fight for the implementation of the Forest Rights Act. Sandeep Minhas is Secretary of organisation, while Aditi Chanchani coordinates Mountains, Communities and Tourism programme. Aditi is a member of the GSTC India Working Group and of the GSTC Destination Stewardship Working Group.

[1] Gram Sabha or a village assembly which shall consist of all adult members of a village.

[2] Committees from amongst its members work to protect wildlife, forest, biodiversity, catchments areas, water sources and other ecologically sensitive areas; to shield the habitat of forest-dwelling communities from any form of destructive practices affecting their cultural and natural heritage; and to ensure that the decisions taken in the Gram Sabha to regulate access to community forest resources and stop any activity which adversely affects the wild animals, forest and the biodiversity are complied with.

[3] To protect the rights of the people of Himachal Pradesh, non-locals are not allowed to purchase land unless approval is given by the State and therefore through other means, circumvent this process.

[4] Deputy Commissioner is representative of the government at district level and is responsible for the implementation of programmes and policies of Centre Government and State Government as well as to coordinate the working of all Government offices within the district. The Commissioner looks after the law and order situation and is the primary relief agency in cases of natural calamities (http://himachalservices.nic.in/rti/rtihp/RTIDesc/117-2.pdf accessed as on 14 October 2021).

[5] SAHARA is a registered society that came into being with a mandate of empowerment of women in the interior areas of Kullu district. They work towards addressing the economic and social needs of the communities living adjacent to the Great Himalayan National Park.