00:00Tourism Sustainability Summit 2025 Taking a significant step towards integrating
00:13sustainability into tourism, the Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Association of India
00:18FHRAI is hosting the Tourism Sustainability Summit 2025.
00:24This platform provides an opportunity for in-depth discussion on the future of sustainable
00:29tourism, not just in India but globally. Let's take a look.
00:59M.P. is the only state which has increased its forest cover in previous decades. So this
01:28ethos has been built into the tourism vertical as well. So we are trying to diversify the
01:33tourism portfolio. We are trying to make our destinations crowd-proof. We are trying to
01:39do all kinds of studies to ensure that, you know, the carrying capacities of our, you
01:45know, these kind of very sensitive places is not breached. And also we are working with
01:51the industry to help them, to facilitate them, to learn from them that how we can make tourism
01:57more sustainable, how we can involve the tourists also in contributing their bit to
02:03become responsible tourists. I think our Honorable Prime Minister Narendra
02:06Modi Ji is making great strides and making sure that we are implementing that into every
02:12walk of life with his version of how India is today. Vasudeva Kutumbakka. We have pretty
02:19much opened our arms to the world, but he's also promoting internal domestic tourism,
02:24which is a big thing because we have 1.5 billion people and we ourselves are our own
02:29huge market. So between the two, India is going to surge as far as tourism goes and
02:36sustainability is key. So today we saw the culmination of PHTCCI and, you know, the bodies
02:45that are the FH and RA, they are amazing because they are propagating the movement where it's
02:50necessary. And I think this is where we are headed to, success.
02:56The summit brings together all stakeholders, which is governmental agency, the government
03:02and the academia and the industry people and also the non-governmental agencies who are
03:07into the field of sustainability. The idea is to firstly to communicate to the policymakers
03:13that yes, the industry is serious about sustainability. We are serious about our environment. We are
03:20serious about growth, but not at the cost of the environment. And in that mission,
03:27there is a constant research that is being made by our own center of excellence. There
03:31was a report that was released last year. There's a report that is released this year
03:34also. The report highlights the best practices. It, in fact, collates information from the
03:40champions in sustainability in our sector. It earmarks real points of areas where sustainability
03:48is essential. And finally, it says that all of this is going to be beneficial and it's
03:53not a cost or an expensive proposition. It's a proposition which will be beneficial to
03:59the hotel in the long run, beneficial to our community, to our environment. And all of
04:04this is helping us much better in our policy advocacy with the government so that we work
04:09in tandem. We want growth and we want growth at a sustainable manner. And all of this is
04:16helping us to project ourselves with the government as to how we move forward in our
04:22quest for, you know, reaching the three trillion economy that we want to do by 2047. It can't
04:28be done if we are not sustainable. Sustainability is all about respecting the environment, respecting
04:33the planet, the earth, which has given us this life, this place to live in, right? So
04:37yeah, I think as an artist, we would be there for any, this kind of a cause. It's so, so
04:43special and so amazing. It's a big honor to be here in India at the Tourism Sustainable
04:49Summit. While there are so many best practices, quite frankly, you have a few in this country.
04:55ITC Hotels, for example, taking very bold action on energy renewal, waste management,
05:03water consumption and how they manage water. Lemon Trees Hotels, which is leadership in
05:09social responsibility, particularly in engaging those that are disadvantaged or those with
05:14disabilities into the workforce. There are so many best practices out there. Iberostar
05:20in Spain, who are doing some fantastic work on coastal tourism and particularly on investments
05:27in coral reef restoration. To Accor Hotels, who are doing amazing work on planting trees
05:34and mangrove investments to ocean investments. You know, I have the blessing of working with
05:41industry from all parts of the world. And I see the best of all. We have to look at sustainability
05:47in a holistic way. It's not just about the environment. We have to balance in the social
05:52dimension, the community dimension. And what we have in our alliance is we look at people,
05:57planet, place and prosperity. And so by looking at that dimension, then you don't miss anything
06:05because you can't look at each of these things on their own. We could be seen as an industry
06:10that is the guardians of nature because we have a vested interest in ensuring that the destination
06:17or the planet survives. If the planet or the destination fails, I'm out of business as an
06:24industry. We're out of business. Nobody else can say that. We have a vested interest in making sure
06:29that succeeds. Top 100 companies, when they decide to go and select a hotel for the conference,
06:35one of the key, you know, areas they look at from that hotel is that how green practices, how much
06:42green practices the hotel adopts. So it's not only, you know, good for us, for our businesses, it's
06:47good for the planet. It's good for our children. It's good for the future. So I think the awareness
06:53is there and it's getting, you know, people are getting more aware by the day. Today's
06:58industry and where India is in tourism, there's a lot of knowledge gap. People are not aware of
07:04what the sustainable practices are. People are not aware as to what are the benefits of adopting
07:10sustainable solutions. The government, FHRI and panels such as this is doing a fantastic job to
07:16educate all stakeholders that sustainable solutions is not only good for the environment, but it's
07:22also good for business. And we at Rhythm are able to really see that through much enhanced
07:28bottom lines and profitability once we've adopted a lot of sustainable solutions. The guest who is
07:33paying 24,000, 40,000 rupees a night, how can you expect that he will support you? It's just today
07:40conference, one word is there, mindset. So how can you change the mindset of the guest when he's
07:46paying 24,000, 40,000 a night and how can you expect from him that he will support you in
07:52energy saving, water saving or other things? Give him some kind of rewards. Yes, you save this thing,
07:59we'll support you, we'll give you some rewards or give him a kind of, as a respect regards,
08:04give him some kind of, okay, high tea with us. We'll give you the complimentary high tea,
08:08some kind of incentives you have to give them. This meaningful dialogue on sustainable tourism
08:13reinforced the commitment to making the hospitality industry more environmentally
08:17conscious and responsible. The summit set the tone for the greener and more sustainable future
08:22for the tourism sector. This is Niyati, OneIndia.
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