Meet The Ugly Tourist

One of the most important inferences that need to be drawn from the recent disasters is that the Hills states need to have a relook at their tourism strategies and policies. An industry that is often touted to be ‘revenue earner’ or ‘employment generator’ needs to be re-evaluated and reshaped as it cannot go on in its present form.

Today after a massive devastation the question being asked is whether tourism in its present form is a boon or a bane? Whether reckless construction of roads and buildings, often in the ecologically fragile zones, in the name of tourism promotion can be allowed to continue or not?

Observers point out that over the last few days there has been a strange combination of demand and supply at work here. Both the tourists as well as the operators in the tourism industry stand out as culprits. The tourists are seen demanding facilities that do not go with the ethos of the hills, and providers eager to earn quick money go ahead to satiate these illogical demands.

In the process the laws, rules and ethics are all thrown to the winds. A system that is not good for the health of the hills, has been put in place.

To begin with, a large number of visitors to these states can easily be placed in the category of ‘ugly tourists’. This reporter through his experiences in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh has come across many such people. Take for instance the lot coming to pristine hill stations from the plains and the very first demand is that of an air-conditioned room, multinational fast food joints, and accommodation right on the river bed overlooking flowing waters. They also look for amusement or adventure parks for their children besides multiplex cinemas.

The saddest part is that largely the tourism in the hills, particularly weekend tourism, is getting defined by a rash drive to a destination followed by binge drinking and unruly behaviour. One often gets to gear the tourists' brags in the markets of Mussoorie, Nainital, Shimla or Kasauli, saying things like “Your brother drove to the destination in just five hours.”

Now the question here is: if the visitors want to enjoy the drive up the hills or are they on a fire fighting mission? And if they want the same recreation facilities, fast food and malls that are available in their hometowns or cities, why come to the hills at all?

This is often coupled with an arrogance that borders on insanity. I cannot forget the interaction with a group from Punjab who were on their way to Shimla a few years ago. Shimla was facing an acute water crisis that was so severe that water was distributed under the supervision of the state High Court.

At the Kandaghat tri-junction the tourists wanted to know the way to Shimla. On being told that it was not advisable to go to Shimla due to the water scarcity and they should try to visit Chail instead, the retort in colloquial Punjabi was, “Who wants to drink water? We will be drinking beer.”

Even otherwise there is hardly any sensitivity towards issues like water scarcity or at times power breakdowns because of various reasons. The attitude is that there should be ample supply since they are paying money for the stay.

Add to this are the heaps of litter that tourists leave behind. One has to just walk along the Kalka-Shimla railway track that is marked by some lovely stations that used to serve as picnic spots in the past. One is greeted by filth thrown from the trains in the form of wrappers, plastic cans and other garbage.

As retired meteorologist Anand Sharma pointed out in a conversation a few days ago, “One of the important questions that needs to be answered is what does a common man gain from such tourism? Maybe a few hotel owners do but at large they just leave behind heaps of filth.”

There is another important question here pertaining to the massive road broadening initiatives in the hills. Observers are hitting on this with the question, “Do we actually need these four lane roads? The often promoted stance of the authorities that such roads would reduce travel time does not hold ground.

“Whose travel time gets reduced? It is mainly the weekend visitor coming to party with his group in his huge SUVs. In the process the common folk get additionally burdened through new toll tax barriers that have sprouted that quite often also lead to traffic snarls.”

One of the jokes going on in the hills after the recent devastation is that while the four lane roads have been damaged or washed away the only thing standing unharmed are the toll barriers.

Moving to another tourism related aspect, Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu recently stated that the operation to evacuate tourists saw the state government bringing around 70,000 tourists to safety with around 500 tourists voluntarily deciding to stay back. About 15,000 vehicles have been sent out from Himachal Pradesh.

The instant question here is, what was this huge number of tourists doing in the state when warnings were being continuously issued about bad and severe weather conditions for the last several weeks? Obviously the warnings were not heeded to, and later everything fell on the duty bound government to evacuate people to safety about which the visitors themselves had not been concerned.

The Chandratal rescue mission that saw evacuation of around 293 tourists by a team led by revenue minister, Jagat Singh Negi along with chief parliamentary secretary Sanjay Awasthi was marked by clearing of 26 km snow covered road with officials and local residents also pitching in. A JCB operator named Sukhdev drove JCB, without a halt, for almost 21 hours so that the road could be cleared.

Some important points in context of the kind of tourism the hills need were raised by Aditi Chanchani who has been working on various aspects of tourism primarily in the Kullu – Manali region that has been amongst the worst hit in the recent disaster.

“There are multiple factors at work. The first is the kind of construction that has been allowed along the river bed. The hotels, eating joints, car parks etc in this zone have seen maximum damage.

“There are laws in place that call for construction only beyond a certain point on the river bed. We have precedence of such disasters but nobody wants to learn the rules.

“The tourist wants a pretty view. He wants to enjoy the natural beauty right next to him. But does this have to come at such a cost,” Chanchani explained.

“The tourist needs to understand what he or she has come here for. It is also about understanding local culture and environment. There has to be a makeshift change on what can or what cannot be offered to the visitors.

“We have to start talking about it. It has to come from the government to the administration to the hotel owners. The issue of illegal dumping has also come to the centre stage at this point of time. Are the hydro experts ever consulted when plans for construction of facilities are passed?” she added.

It is being pointed out that there has to be change in the entire approach towards developing new destinations and facilities.

“Take the case of Sissu in Lahaul-Spiti. It is an unsafe avalanche prone zone. But the logic given at the time of its promotion and development was that there had been no snow for two years,” she pointed out. There has been enough written about the muck and filth left in the Lahaul valley ever since the tourism around Atal Tunnel has been promoted.

Chanchani raised another valid question on the failure of the authorities to address the all important issue of the carrying capacity of the hills. “It looks very good on paper but who has done anything about it? Are we going to do it?” said she.

This aspect of carrying capacity was also highlighted in a recent discussion on the ten years of Kedarnath tragedy in Uttarakhand that was organised by Social Development for Communities (SDC) Foundation in Dehradun. The views expressed hold importance for all tourist bound hill states.

“The crowds coming to the Himalayas, including Kedarnath, are only increasing. If it is not managed properly, a tragedy like 2013 can happen again. After the 2013 disaster, we conducted a survey and found that the Kedar valley had a capacity for only 25,000 pilgrims to stay, but that night there were 40,000 people there.

“Now this balance has deteriorated further. The road which was earlier branded as ‘All Weather’ has now been branded as ‘Char Dham Marg’ project. The way these roads are being built with dynamite blasting is incorrect. Landslides are occurring on this road throughout the year.

“In such a situation, gathering more and more people in Kedarnath should be avoided. We have to take care of the carrying capacity of the Valley. We have also seen the results of unplanned development in Joshimath. On these issues, the government should listen to experts and involve them in the policy process,” Dr. Y. P. Sundriyal, who is an expert in geology, said.

Mani Kant Mishra who is a Commandant with the state disaster relief force (SDRF) pointed out, “Due to the increasing number of tourists in the state, the challenges of dealing with accidents have increased.

“For this, the jawans are given training in personal rescue and paramedics. There is also a special team for high altitude rescue. My advice to the local populace of Uttarakhand is to not build homes and commercial buildings close to the paths of the rivers.

“It has been observed that a lot of rampant construction takes place around the rivers. Those coming to the state as tourists and pilgrims, be alert about weather reports and travel keeping in mind the geography and climatic conditions.”

Coming back to Himachal, an area of concern that has emerged for the genuine stakeholders in the tourism industry is the decline in the number of foreign visitors despite there being an upsurge in arrivals in the post Covid 19 scenario.

There have been media reports stating, “If in 2012, five lakh foreigners visited the state, the number dropped to a mere 29,000 in 2022. The worst year in terms of foreign visitors was 2021 when just 5,000 tourists came to the hill state.

“According to state tourism department officials, most of the districts including Kullu, Shimla and Kangra, which used to be the favourite haunts of foreign visitors, have recorded a major drop in their numbers over the years.”

The state’s economic survey presented ahead of the annual budget stated, “Tourist arrival is one of the main indicators of the demand for tourism in a particular destination. After COVID-19 pandemic the domestic tourist arrivals have increased from Rs. 32.13 lakh in 2020 to Rs. 56.37 lakh in 2021 and further to Rs. 150.99 lakh in 2022 in absolute terms. It shows that the tourist arrivals are reaching to the pre pandemic levels.”

Cover Photo: PTI