What is Sustainable Tourism?
Sustainable tourism can be defined as “Tourism that takes full account of its current and future economic, social and environmental impacts, addressing the needs of visitors, the industry, the environment and host communities.”
It’s a concept that encompasses the entire tourism experience, including economic, social, and environmental concerns, as well as improving tourist experiences and meeting the requirements of host communities. Tourism can refer to leisure travel, business travel, and visits to friends and family, as well as tourism-related modes of transportation. This could include general transportation as well as local transit to and from lodgings, entertainment, recreation, food, and shopping. There is now widespread agreement that tourism should be long-term. In reality, if properly planned, developed, and managed, all forms of tourism have the potential to be sustainable. It tends to improve the quality of work while also assisting in the creation of additional local jobs. It makes it easier for locals to start their own businesses in tourist regions and provides more chances for them to do so.
Sustainable Tourism Development
All forms of tourism in all types of places, including mass tourism and specialist tourism segments, can benefit from sustainable tourism development principles and management techniques. The environmental, economic, and socio-cultural components of tourism development are all addressed by sustainability principles, and a fair balance must be struck between these three dimensions to ensure long-term viability.
As a result, sustainable tourism should:
- Make the best possible use of environmental resources, which are a critical component of tourism development, while also preserving important ecological processes and contributing to the preservation of natural heritage and biodiversity.
- Respect the host communities’ socio-cultural authenticity, preserve their built and live cultural heritage, and contribute to intercultural understanding and tolerance.
- Ensure long-term economic viability by delivering equitable socio-economic advantages to all stakeholders, such as secure employment and income-earning possibilities for host communities and social services, and contributing to poverty alleviation.
Difference Between Sustainable Tourism and Conventional Tourism
Sustainable Tourism attempts to keep more money spent on tourism in the local economy, so that it can remain stable and even increase. It can avoid critical levels of environmental degradation in tourist sites. This is especially true for destinations with major ecosystems, biodiversity, or wildlife. Consider the needs, rights, and true culture of the people who live in a tourist-prone area. In terms of the social factor it considers the impact of garbage generation on a tourist location, as well as the experience of local residents who must live there if waste management is inadequate. Another possibility is that, if certain resources are rare, local decision-makers should evaluate the impact of tourist resource consumption on the local population.
On the other hand people associate conventional tourism with mass tourism, although conventional tourism can also refer to tourism that is free of mass manufacturing and consumerism. Mass tourism is a sort of conventional tourism, although it can also include other types of tourism such as personally planned, personalized, or specialized tourism. Consumers, in example, may be searching for a specific style of vacation or experience that caters to their personal needs.
Listed below are a few examples:
- Specialty visits to rural areas to visit historic locations of personal significance or to sample local products and services, such as food and beverages.
- Arranging and participating in a personalized travel vacation that is not offered by or purchased through a well-known travel service provider.
- Paying a visit to family and/or friends in the United States or abroad as part of a vacation.
Oddessemania and Sustainable Tourism
Sustainable tourism has been applied and promoted hand in hand with Oddessemania from the beginning with the foundation of the company. All the trips/treks and activities are proceeded sustainably however it is possible.
“We offer treks by taking in consideration that we do not spoil the natural environment by keeping it clean and plastic free. In terms of society we give the local people an employment opportunity both part time or permanently”.
First of all we are specifically a tour company promoting adventure tourism, rural tourism, ecotourism, responsible or sustainable tourism. We believe that any form of tourism is better than convenient type of tourism mostly because a mass involvement of tourists or a large amount of commercialization can effect the environment and culture of an area.
Sustainability Practices in Oddessemania
Avoid Mass Tourism
As mentioned above any form of tourism is better than convenient type mostly because a mass involvement of tourists can effect the environment. We do not prefer taking a huge number of people together in a group for any kind of trips. We don’t believe in supporting or encouraging mass tourism because already many of the places are exploited beyond the carrying capacity of the places and moreover, manpower is required to manage a large group and not everyone can enjoy if we take a lot of people. Carrying Capacity (CC) relates to the amount of people who can be supported within natural resource boundaries within a specified region and without degrading the current and prospective decades ‘ human social, cultural and financial climate. As the climate is degraded, capacity-bearing effectively shrinks, making the atmosphere unable to sustain even the amount of individuals who might have previously resided in the region. No inhabitants can survive for a very lengthy time beyond the bearing ability of the environment.
Green rails
We organize day hiking in the city outskirts inside forests for students and corporate people. Outings like that require participants to walk some distance in groups feeling the natural environment around while taking pictures, making videos and even start bird watching. They are also encouraged to act responsibly, not to leave behind wastes and not to play music or make some noise during the treks or hikes. In between the pandemic, people were stuck at home during lock down. Oddessemania has helped hundreds to actually admire nature and breath fresh air at our hikes and treks. Such trails are good in the sense no amount of carbon footprint or pollution agents is left behind.
Waste Management Drives
The methods and actions required to manage trash from its inception to final disposal are referred to as waste management. This comprises waste collection, transportation, treatment, and disposal, as well as waste management process monitoring and control, as well as waste-related laws, technologies, and economic system. We also organize small walks by riverside and waterfalls and hills where we take student volunteers to clean the areas. Cleanliness drives should be proceeded time to time to ensure that a natural environment or a location do not lose its charm. Waste management drives help to prevent stagnation with land, water or air pollution mainly generated through dumping and burning of plastic wastes.
Avoid Disposable Items
A disposable item is a product that is intended to be used once and then recycled or discarded as solid waste. We always suggest people travelling with us to carry their own dishes and refilling water bottles. A traveler using their own plates, spoon or bowl will also be much comfortable while having food. Tupperware bottles and containers as well as thermal flasks are a lot better to use than containers or packaging which need to be disposed or thrown. Even if a people carry disposable items the polythene, wrappers, packets are asked to keep with themselves which will be disposed in recycle bins or dustbins after the trips. This saves the environment from disposable items as plastic is the prime cause of pollution on Earth. Also when plastics and micro plastics end up in the environment, they attract micro-organisms, such as harmful bacteria (pathogens). If micro plastics containing these pathogens enter our body, they may be hazardous for our health.
Alternate Mode of Accommodation
In Oddessemania, the accommodation facilities are arranged only at homestays and campsites, ditching the luxury hotels. The local homestays are able to provide familiar and authentic service which in turn help travelers to feel homely. They can also taste locally cooked food and beverages which appreciates the local people for their style of food preparation. Staying close to locals is a good way to adjust yourselves with the culture and society of the place. In this way the travelers can learn a lot about the history, politics, folklore, fashion, food, plants and animals commonly known in that place. Backpackers prefer adventure in their packages and hence they are provided stays at campsites in tents, dorms and hostels which are in fact much budget friendly compared to hotels.
Local Guides and Stakeholders
This is one of the main practices from the very beginning of the company. In every trips and treks, we always make people stay in local homestays, send a guides which are local to the place, and even local drivers who help in the transportation part. This give the travelers the real vibes of the culture and society; income to the local people over there. We do not let any outsiders of a state or area to go as a guide as this also help the travelers to stay on a safer side. They also work with full sincerity and dedication because they wish to reflect their culture and roots among themselves. The local guides can very easily lead the travelers as they know their field of area better, this also helps in cutting the language barrier which can be quite a problem in understanding and communication. Most importantly Oddessemania help the locals to financially support themselves and their families.
