MP Tourism & CII to deliberate on wildlife tourism in Bhopal

MP Tourism & CII to deliberate on wildlife tourism in Bhopal

ESOI, as principal partner, to bring forth key issues

SANJEEV BHAR – New Delhi

Madhya Pradesh Tourism and CII will deliberate on wildlife tourism and best practices followed in the sphere worldwide at a seminar on Wildlife Tourism, to be held in mid September this year in Bhopal. Ecotourism Society of India (ESOI) will be the principal partner for the event. The issue of wildlife tourism, which is being discussed owing to the new draft containing renewed guidelines for eco tourism in and around protected areas in India, has also augured the need to understand the best practices followed in wildlife tourism in India and elsewhere in the world. Speaking exclusively to Express TravelWorld, Mandip Singh Soin, president for ESOI revealed that it was felt that best practices need to be discussed and aspects that are feasible and implementable in the Indian scenario need to be brought to the fore to address the concerns of national parks and sanctuaries, and to promote tourism in an eco sensitive manner. “We are fine tuning the details of the seminar and it would address the best way we can harness potential wilderness practices which India can adopt. It is important we do a competitive comparative study to bring the best out of the ecological heritage we have in terms of national parks in India,” he said.

According to Soin, participation is expected from representatives of national parks in Alaska, Africa and Europe who will discuss their approach towards wildlife and national parks/sanctuaries. The seminar will bring to the focus concepts of manning national parks with unique practices which are applied in these countries. “We have also proposed the union ministries of Tourism and Environment & Forests to be part of the seminar so that we get an all round viewpoint and make all stakeholders understand the positive outcome of good ecotourism practices. In India, the lack of park management is one of the key concerns, which can be addressed in such a seminar,” summed Soin.