The second meeting of the Tourism Working Group (TWG) under India’s G20 Presidency was held 1-3 April 2023, in Siliguri and Darjeeling in West Bengal.
During the working sessions, around 130 G20 delegates deliberated and focused on a potential roadmap which would link the tourism sector with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, and would leverage tourism development for achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
On the first day, Gabriella Stowell, ATTA’s Vice President of Regional Development, spoke about adventure travel trends and brought specific examples of adventure travel businesses from the global ATTA community that are working to achieve these SDGs.
Stowell also moderated a panel discussion which focused on the development of adventure tourism and its transformative power in achieving SDGs. Case studies were presented by the following industry experts:
- Mr. Liam Broom – Head of International Tourism for the UK
- Mr. Federico Salas Lotfe – Ambassador of Mexico to India
- Ms. Krista Apse – Director General for Innovation, Science and Economic Development for Canada
- Mr. Stephan Hesselmann – Economic Minister Counsellor for Germany
- Mr. Tsuanshige Shirotori – Director for International Affairs and Human Resources Development for Japan
- Mr Gustavo Torres – Head of the International Relations Office – Tourism Ministry of Brazil
- Mr. Sachin S. Kurve – Uttarakhand Tourism Secretary
All of the case studies shared a common theme: a strong collaboration between private and public sectors. Some of them highlighted the importance of standardization, innovation, education and constant evaluation as main elements to achieve the SDGs.
On 2 April 2023 a full-day event was organized for domestic stakeholders and state governments to deliberate on ways to augment adventure tourism in India. Stowell spoke about the great opportunities that India has thanks to its incredible abundance of natural and cultural resources. Through education, standardization, and federal policies, India can work to protect these assets and develop adventure travel products, which will allow for sustainable and responsible tourism development.
ATTA’s long term member Mr. Ajeet Bajaj, and current president of the Adventure Tour Operators Association of India (ATOAI) also spoke about the opportunities for adventure travel in India. He highlighted tremendous biodiversity, the fact that the country is home to 70 per cent of the Himalayas and has 7,000 km of coastline. Despite all these amazing resources, India still ranks low (the country is positioned as number 96 out of 191 countries analyzed) on the Adventure Travel Development Index (ATDI).
During the event, Bajaj challenged the stakeholders to collectively work towards a unified goal of bringing India into the top ten destinations in the next five years. India’s tourism strategic plan is based on the seven ATDI pillars, as (i) State assessment, ranking and strategy (ii) Skills, capacity building and certification (iii) Marketing and promotion (iv) Strengthening adventure tourism safety management framework (v) National and state level rescue and communication grid (vi) Destination and product Development (vi) Governance and Institutional Framework.
The Union Minister for Culture, Tourism and Development of Northeast Region Shri G.K Reddy also delivered a presentation on the second day and shared that India is determined to achieve the goals of Mission Life – or “lifestyle for environment”. Mission Life is the Indian government’s program launched in partnership with the U.N. to encourage action on climate change. Reddy informed the audience that India would primarily be focusing on the development of adventure tourism infrastructure, financial assistance to adventure tourism destinations, education programs, definition of national safety standards, research and development activities, and the creation of long distance trails around the country – all with the vision to make India a one trillion dollar tourism economy by 2047.
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