Dear Friends,
Pasted below is a letter written to the Govt of India by a group of NGOs
from the North East regarding the promotion of LTC tourism in the
North East. The letter refers to teh situation in the Andaman islands as
well. The letter was sent in January 2008, but seems to have been
ignored if one goes by the recent announcement of the govt. I had posted
a recent news report on that last week.
pankaj


31.01.2008
To
Shri Mani Shankar Aiyer
Minister for Development of the North Eastern Region (DoNER)
Government of India
401, C-Wing, Shastri Bhawan
New Delhi - 110 001


Sub: Concerns about the proposal of promoting the North- East as a
destination to Leave Travel Concession (LTC) travellers.

Dear Shri Aiyer,
We the undersigned would like to bring to your notice some concerns in
connection with the proposal of the DoNER Ministry to actively promote
the Northeast as a tourism destination for government officials
travelling on Leave Travel Concession (LTC). According to media reports
the ministry hopes that the arrival of government officials and their
families on leave to North East will give a much needed jump start to
tourism in the region. According to DoNER this move will give rise to a
“footfall” of 7000 tourists .
While visiting different parts of this beautiful country is indeed a
desirable thing, we would like to draw your attention to the fact that
such moves can have unintended and even disastrous consequences as the
recent case of the Andamans Islands only proves. EQUATIONS, Tata
Institute of Social Sciences, INTACH, Kalpavriksh and Society for
Andaman & Nicobar Ecology have been engaged on a research project titled
“Building a base for advocating Sustainable Tourism in the Andamans”.
The research examines the current status of tourism in the islands and
assesses its social, cultural, economic, environmental and institutional
impacts. The research aims at assessing proposed tourism development in
the Andamans in the light of sustainable development of Andaman Islands
vis-à-vis tourism.
As a part of the research (which is slated for completion in March 2008)
a very critical dimension that has come to the fore is the impact of the
Ministry of Tourism’s promotional efforts post the Tsunami of December
2004 to “bring tourists back to the Islands”. The Government of India,
in May 2005 issued a Memorandum (No. 31011/3/2005-Estt. (A)) relaxing
LTC Rules such that all central government employees could avail their
LTC to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in place of their home town. It
further permitted Group-A and Group-B government employees to avail of
this facility via air from either Kolkata or Chennai . With this
relaxation, the number of domestic tourist which was 30,225 in 2005 rose
to 1,18,648 in 2006, of which majority were those traveling to the
Andamans by availing LTC.
As a result, now on an average 700 LTC travellers visit Andamans in a
single day. What is observed is that LTC travelers visit the Islands as
part of a packaged tour usually arranged for them by a tour operator in
their city in association with a travel agency based in Port Blair. Many
stay in budget accommodation or mid-range hotels in Port Blair and spend
most of their time sight-seeing in and around Port Blair. It has been
reported that many stay in hired homes Their travel, stay and food being
all pre-planned and taken care of, there is little direct perceivable
link to the local economy and all benefits that would accrue would be
indirectly through their stay in their accommodation units or through
tour operating agencies. It seems that the main beneficiary of this
scheme was the private airlines! However, the pressure exerted on
resources is huge. Andamans (particularly Port Blair and Havelock)
already has a huge water crisis and the influx of large number of LTC
travelers worsened the situation considerable. Also the pressure on
infrastructure – inter island boat connectivity which is already
strained faces even more pressure due to the sudden influx and demand of
tourists. We also understand that the wisdom of the move to promote
tourism through opening up of LTC facilities is being questioned as the
new Tourism Policy being drafted by the Department of Information,
Publicity and Tourism (Andaman & Nicobar Islands Administration) indicates.

There is another dimension to this issue which also merits flagging off.
Since July 2007, LTC travellers, largely from the 6 steel plants of
Bhilai, Bokaro, Rourkela, Durgapur and Tata Steel City in Jamshedpur
began visiting the Islands in large numbers due the policy directives
that facilitated this. it is alleged (by the Andaman and Nicobar Chamber
of Commerce) that many LTC travelers came not because of an interest in
the ecology and natural beauty of the Islands but to collect a cash
back offer offered by few travel agencies who were abusing the LTC
system. Discussions as well as media reports point to the resentment of
local people and tourism industry in the Islands as travellers began
opting to stay in cheap, low-cost accommodation (largely of the paying
guest variety) in Port Blair such that occupancy rates in hotels in Port
Blair plummeted to 20% in the months from July – September. In addition,
the mass booking (and blocking) of airline tickets by these travel
agencies resulted in a serious problem of others accessing economy
fare tickets or forced to buy them at very high prices.

The Andaman and Nicobar Chamber of Commerce staged an organised protest
and campaign in the month of September 2007 appealing to authorities at
the A&NI Administration and central government to put an end to this
practice. On World Tourism Day 27th September 2007, hoteliers in
Andamans observed a black day in protest against this promotional move
as it offered little local benefit.

Sir, we would like to draw your attention to some similarities to the
North East region’s situation. The positioning of tourism in any region
must take into account a variety of factors- the nature of the tourism
product, its suitability in terms of sustainability and impact (social,
economic environmental etc) the aspirations, constraints and desire of
local communities, the availability of adequate infrastructure and human
capacity to engage in such forms of tourism and last but not the least -
clear tangible benefits to local communities and the local economy.
Evidence around the world has shown that mere footfalls are no guarantee
of sustainable tourism and /or benefits to local community. We fear that
this move by DoNER if not posited against many of these factors would
lead to a boomerang as the evidence of the Andamans Island clearly
demonstrates. Like the case of the Andamans, the question arises, what
actual benefit it will bring to the local communities in the North East?

We urge your ministry to seriously reconsider this proposal and study it
in the light of these experiences and the demonstrable benefits. We hope
that you will consider the case we are placing before you with due
seriousness and look forward to a response, as well as an opportunity to
take these discussions further.

We the undersigned
1. Bamang Anthony, Arunachal Citizens’ Rights, Arunachal
2. EQUATIONS, Bangalore
3. James Pochury, Pochury (Naga), Nagaland
4. Jillangamba Yengkhom, Manipur
5. Jiten Yumnam, Citizens Concern for Dams and Development, Manipur
6. Kinderson Pamei, Manipur
7. Nandini Thockchom, Forum for Indigenous Perspectives and Action, Manipur
8. Onil Kshetrimayum, Reach Out, NE India
9. Ramananda Wangkheirakpam, North East Peoples Alliance on Trade
Finance and Development, NE India
10. Ramthing Kasar, Buffalo, Manipur
11. Ravindranath, River Basin Friends


Encl: The news report on “Hoteliers Protest against Low Budget Andaman
Tourism”

Copy to:
1. All Officers of the Ministry for Development of the North Eastern
Region (DoNER), Government of India
2. Resident Commissioners of North Eastern States
3. Steering Committee Members of Ministry of Development of North
Eastern Region and Home Affairs
4. Minister and Officials of the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India
5. Secretaries of the Department of Tourism, North Eastern States
6. Members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Tourism, Transport
and Culture
7. Members of Parliament from North- Eastern States.


31.01.08

To



Sub: Concerns about the proposal of promoting the North- East as a
destination to Leave Travel Concession (LTC) travellers.

Dear .. ,

We the undersigned would like to bring to your notice some concerns in
connection with the proposal of the DoNER Ministry to actively promote
the North - East as a tourism destination for government officials
travelling on Leave Travel Concession (LTC). According to media reports
the ministry hopes that the arrival of government officials and their
families on leave to North East will give a much needed jump start to
tourism in the region. According to DoNER this move will give rise to a
“footfall” of 7000 tourists .

As an officer of the Ministry of Development Of North Eastern Region, we
would like to bring to your notice the letter sent by us to Sri Mani
Shankar Aiyer, Minister for Development of the North Eastern Region
(DoNER), Government of India with respect to the proposal of promoting
the North- East as a destination to Leave Travel Concession (LTC)
travellers.

We look forward to a response, as well as an opportunity to take these
discussions further.

We the undersigned

1. Bamang Anthony, Arunachal Citizens’ Rights, Arunachal
2. EQUATIONS, Bangalore
3. James Pochury, Pochury (Naga), Nagaland
4. Jillangamba Yengkhom, Manipur
5. Jiten Yumnam, Citizens Concern for Dams and Development, Manipur
6. Kinderson Pamei, Manipur
7. Nandini Thockchom, Forum for Indigenous Perspectives and Action, Manipur
8. Onil Kshetrimayum, Reach Out, NE India
9. Ramananda Wangkheirakpam, North East Peoples Alliance on Trade
Finance and Development, NE India
10. Ramthing Kasar, Buffalo, Manipur
11. Ravindranath, River Basin Friends


Copy to:
8. Sri Mani Shankar Aiyer, Minister for Development of the North Eastern
Region (DoNER), Government of India
9. All Officers of the Ministry for Development of the North Eastern
Region (DoNER), Government of India
10. Resident Commissioners of North Eastern States
11. Steering Committee Members of Ministry of Development of North
Eastern Region and Home Affairs
12. Minister and Officials of the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India
13. Secretaries of the Department of Tourism, North Eastern States
14. Members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Tourism,
Transport and Culture
15. Members of Parliament from North- Eastern States.