GREEN TOURISM

Tourism is one of the 21st century’s fastest growing industries. After all, who doesn’t like
clicking beautiful pictures at exotic places and exploring areas that you’ve not seen before. But
with a growing trend of environment conservation, green tourism is gaining pace as today’s
new form of travel. Despite popular belief, ecotourism is about much more than just jumping on
a jet to save the rain forests. Ecotourism in simple terms means management of tourism and
conservation of nature in a way so as to maintain a fine balance between the requirements of
tourism and ecology on the one hand and needs of the local communities for jobs, new skills,
income generating employment and a better status for women on the other. Green tourism, a
form of ecotourism, is low-impact tourism with an eye toward protecting the environment and
culture of an area. There are many opportunities for green travel available worldwide. The
number of tourists traveling the world has been increasing, which makes green tourism not only
preferable but a necessity in some areas. It might seem wiser to some people to protect natural
habitats and pristine, fragile environments by banning visitors completely to these areas, but
many areas depend on the income from tourism to support the local economy. Green,
sustainable tourism is considered offer the best of both worlds, protecting the ecology of an
area while keeping local schools and business thriving.

Whether it’s a large biosphere reserve or a small village where community-based initiatives
flourish, India also has some splendid eco-friendly destinations such as Khonoma village in
Nagaland, Parambikulam Tiger Reserve, Khangchendzonga National Park, Sikkim and many
more. Visiting these places however is not the only way to promote green and sustainable
travel. I am myself an environmentally conscious person and try my best to reduce carbon
footprint and do what is best for the environment. I shifted to bamboo toothbrushes, stopped
using plastic straws , bottles and reduced a lot of waste . A recent shift I myself made was to
travel sustainably by using trains instead of airplanes whenever possible , riding bicycles even
on holidays , choosing ecofriendly accommodation from sites such as ecobnb.com , buying
organic food and local produce when outside and doing tasks that are not insidious for the
environment while also maintaining the dignity of the cultures and traditions of a particular
area.. With the increasing number of travelers around the world, people are gradually starting
to prefer green travel. So, it is imperative to promote and advocate people to cultivate the
awareness and good habits in travel, such as protecting natural habits and fragile tourism sites.
Let’s all act as prudent custodians of the environment by doing our bit by promoting and
practicing green tourism.