In an effort to position India as a global Ecotourism destination, the Ministry of Tourism (MoT) has assigned the Institute of Hotel Management (IHM) Pusa to carry out an audit of seven wildlife sanctuaries in India. IHM Pusa, along with Ecotourism Society of India (ESOI) and Travel Operators for Tiger (TOFT) will undertake a survey of the wildlife sanctuaries to assess the impact of tourism on the ecology of these sanctuaries and areas around them. The entire project will be funded by MoT.
According to an IHM Pusa official, the survey will begin from the second week of December this year. They will start the survey from Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand. MoT has identified major wildlife sanctuaries, including Ranthambore, Kanha, Bandhavgarh, etc. for the audit. A team consisting of one faculty, one M. Sc. student and five students from B. Sc. in Hospitality and Hotel Administration programme from IHM Pusa will take part in the survey, along with representatives from TOFT. The survey is intended at collecting data and assessing on how the working of various stakeholders, especially jungle lodges operators are impacting the ecology of these sanctuaries. |