Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Minister of Culture & Tourism, Government of India, attended as Chief Guest and delivered the keynote address, setting the tone for a day focused on the future of responsible travel in India.
Among the participants was the Global Sustainable Tourism Council (GSTC), represented by its Vice Chair, CB Ramkumar, who participated in the session “On Net-Zero Travel: Breaking Barrier for a Carbon Neutral Travel” with the aim of exploring how the travel industry can shift towards a carbon-neutral model.
“While tourism is a known emitter of carbon, and we need to first acknowledge this fact as a serious issue, this was done very well at the session. More importantly, there are the silent carbon emitters, the hotels with their diesel generators. We need to now make hoteliers aspire for net-zero in their operations through a policy framework like the GSTC Standards for the industry. This is a work in progress, but a critical step if the sector needs to contribute to a net-zero sector.” Said GSTC Vice Chair CB Ramkumar.
The event concluded with a consensus that sustainable tourism must go beyond rhetoric. It must be backed by incentives and coordinated policy at both the national and state levels.
