New Delhi : With people mobility growing at an increasing pace, the tourism and travel sector is changing gears and concentrating on future economic, social, and environmental consequences. After the pandemic, “revenge tourism & travel” has emphasised on the urgent need to create a sustainable travel and tourism ecology. Infrastructure for travel and tourism, consumables, solid waste management, and water resource management are a few of the sectors that can benefit from resource recycling and reuse. The direct and indirect reliance on fossil fuels should be reduced at the same time, through carbon neutrality in operations and green supply chains.
Dr Jyotsna Suri, Chairperson & Managing Director, The Lalit Suri Hospitality Group, highlighted that people are most important in this industry as this industry is run by people, to serve the people. Through Disha foundation, locals, marginalized and specialized community people are trained across the country and employed by The Lalit group and are also hired by others, thus empowering these communities, she added.
Mr Ankit Gupta, CEO- India, OYO underscored that OYO is planning to launch green tag hotels which will be powered by solar power, have rainwater harvesting and use all other sustainable measures.
Mr Kavinder Singh, MD & CEO, Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India ltd. said that the company is planning to be carbon neutral by 2040 in line with Prime Minister’s Modi Vision of making India carbon neutral by 2070.
Mr Vikramjit Singh, President, Lemon Tree Hotels, mentioned that with COVID 19, a good thing has happened is that travel has now become more cautious about the impact on environment which gives an opportunity to travel and tourism to work in this area.
Mr Rajesh Magow, Co- Founder & Group CEO, MakeMyTrip, shared his views mentioned that the world has seen exponential climate change and now it’s the time to act now else it will be too late.
The key takeaways from the session:
- For the tourism industry to grow the destination needs to thrive and hence stakeholders need to focus on empowering the local population emphasizing on inclusion and diversity.
- The hospitality industry has been constantly trying to contribute towards the goal of net zero emission. From use of eco-friendly products and packages to zero use of plastics and reduction in discharge. All these have become an imperative for the travel and tourism industry.
- While responsible tourism is something which has been talked about in details, in order to attain the net zero goals and zero carbon emissions one has to move to regenerative tourism.
FICCI LEADS 2022 is a global thought leadership initiative conceptualized in the backdrop of disruptive business environment globally, which was attended by over 250 participants from around 56 countries. This year’s theme has been ‘Leadership for the Future’ where global leaders are trying to evolve shared vision in 10 themes to make the world resilient, sustainable and future ready.
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