By Agha Iqrar Haroon
The word Peace between Pakistan and India is reality because there is no real war after 1971. However, word Peace is still a myth if you consider this word with its full connotation and denotation because relations between India and Pakistan are always tense and unpleasant like any two countries that are in the battlefield.
There have been many attempts to bring normalization in Indo-Pak relations including US sponsored Confidence Building Measure (CBMs) in year 2003 onward. However results of such attempts seems to be zero ex zero. Both countries do not deny dialogue and Back Track Diplomacy to satisfy international powers but actually do not move an inch backward or forward from their strategic positions. Taking this background, The Region Initiative (TRI) has written this paper to inform people that share of communities in tourism in India and Pakistan is practically zero, and geopolitical positioning of Himalaya has affected poor communities of this area that could have been the best available and best possible tourism destination for entire world.
Travel has long been an important part of the life in the mountain villages of the Himalayas. Himalayas, Karakorum, Pamir and Hindu Kush ranges meet and overlap in South Asia and these ranges have the most beautiful natural spots for sustainable tourism but political situation in this region have practically denied tourism development in mountain areas. Tourism is one of the fastest growing industries in developing countries, notably in mountainous areas, which are often rich in traditional and minority cultures, as well as in biological diversity. Many mountainous regions, infact, are safe-havens for traditional cultures, architecture, religions, beliefs and traditional knowledge. In addition, they are also important in environmental terms, since they are havens of biological diversity and conserve much rare or endangered plant and animal species. The greater part of the world’s renewable clean water resources are formed and stored in mountain areas, and such regions are often areas of great scenic beauty, making them prime tourist destinations.
Development of mountain areas, particularly in the Himalayan regions of South Asia is faced by Conflicts and only Peace can bring livelihood opportunities to mountain people. Due to lack of livelihood opportunities, there is tremendous pressure on natural resources of these areas because natural resources are primary source of income and livelihood for mountain people when there is no industry or tourism is available. Brain drain is causing deformation of mountain societies and the overuse and careless exploitation of these resources endanger not only the ecological balance but also threaten sustainability of living standards.
Mountainous and landlocked countries are among the poorest in the region including Tajikistan and Nepal. Mountain regions in less-developed countries are generally among the poorest regions in these countries (for example, Uttar Pradesh in India, Yunnan and Xinziang in China and Northern in Pakistan.
Political and economic developments disrupted the traditional trading actives across the Himalayas and the movements of shepherds from the middle of the century, resulting in a significant negative impact on the economy of the region. Modern tourism, which began to pick up in the region in the sixties, has helped to fill the gap in some parts of the region. Modern tourism has come into vogue in the Himalayan region at an appropriate juncture in its history. It started just when the consequences of the political and economic developments in mid twentieth centuries were beginning to be felt.
Independence of Pakistan in 1947 and Indo-Pak war on Kashmir in 1948 and its consequent tension mingled with Indo-Sino tension had a negative impact on the seasonal migration patterns of nomads and shepherds, especially near the border regions and destroyed the entire potential of this one of the most beautiful region of the world as the most successful tourism destination. These changes also disrupted traditional trading activities across the Himalayas. Trading and nomadic herding have historically been important livelihood resources for the mountain villages in the region. Over the centuries, the villagers have developed sustainable systems of livelihood that encompassed farming, animal husbandry, trading and providing hospitality to tourists. Historic trails of traveling are occupied by border forces which are even trying to shot down birds crossing man-made borders. Therefore, tourism trend changed in this region and cross border tourism was denied due to fear of cross border terrorism. Co-branding of destinations and regional package tourism never adopted here.
With the development of a road infrastructure and motorised road transport, the tourists started coming in larger numbers, but they were no longer trekking through the area, spending their nights in the traditional community run and built Sairay (Inns) by the villagers and accepting their hospitality. They now travel in buses, taxis and cars and spend the nights and have their meals in small towns where the government and the private sector have built accommodation and catering facilities. The local communities have gained as the number of tourists has increased many folds and tourism continues to constitute about half the GNP of the region but the major share of revenue goes to public enterprises like National Tourism Organizations (NTOs) in Pakistan and India. The gains would have been spread out over a much greater population if the local villages had been able to retain the initiative that they earlier had. Tourist activities in the region can be classified into three broad categories: recreational, mountain tourism and pilgrimages (in Indian states). There are the inevitable overlaps but by and large you find that each area tends to have a distinct focus. A fourth, which could also be classified as a sub-category of recreational tourism is just beginning to emerge and may represent a new growth area with a high potential; enjoying the mountains with a prolonged stay in a mountain village without the strain of treks or rushed tours. This is also an area where innovative inputs would probably be most relevant and an area from which local communities stand to gain the most if the developments are properly guided. In all the three categories, the gains for the local community have come from the informal sector and from linkages rather than from direct advantage from the formal sector. The direct gains have come from lodges, guesthouses and teashops ran by self-employed villagers and from providing transport and carrying luggage and goods needed for tourists. The indirect gains have come from an increased demand for food products and from the crafting and sell of handicrafts. The agencies located mostly in the major cities of Pakistan and India control a major segment of the market for the domestic and regional tourists and for handling most of the tours of the international tour and travel agencies. The later includes metropolitan cities such as Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Delhi and Mumbai and smaller regional cities such as Chandigarh and Shimla. They compete fiercely with each other, to the advantage of the international agencies. They are experts at driving down the prices of their suppliers, especially the middle range of hotels and the lodge owners, both of whom are often competing with each other to get an adequate share of the market. This is especially the case during the lean season.
The tour and travel agencies form a strong alliance when it comes to defending or promoting common interests. The ultimate result is the less money for porters, drivers and other local stakeholders as operators can not buy cheaper fuel for transportation but they can buy cheaper labour and this is what they do. A number of studies done in India have indicated that leading national associations of tour agencies played a key role in formulating rules for tourism to Upper Mustang, an old kingdom within Nepal that was opened up to tourism in 1992. Only organised tours are allowed. The rules allow little room for local communities to make direct economic gains from tourism, all in the name of protecting the cultural heritage and the unique environment of this region. Studies show that there has been a greater negative impact due to the inability of the local entrepreneurs to be able to participate actively and independently in the commerce of tourism than because of tourism itself. The owners of traditional inns that formerly catered to traders passing through the area formed a co-operative. As a group they made a proposal that would have enabled the tour operators and the inn owners to work in a mutually co-operative way and to the advantage of both and the tourists (Shakely, M. 1994). However, Tour Operator Associations play no role in formulating rules or having control on intervention in operation and all is done by Ministry of Tourism Government of Pakistan.
There is no cooperative of stakeholders exist in Pakistan and NGO sector has totally failed to do community development in the field of tourism as their only interest if following the project instruction of donor agencies and donor are interested only in report development, research studies and environmental issues. People who are the greatest component of environment are ignored by donors and NGO sector in Pakistan. People need basic training and skill for developing their small business in the field of tourism and NGO sector provides them “capacity building” of “how to promote human rights, women rights, child labour etc”. In a sense it was inevitable as in all the three regions studied the main hotels, the travel agencies, the luxury coaches and sometimes even the taxis are owned by the power elite of the states and the countries. Lodge and guesthouse owners represent another set of stakeholders from within the private sector.
A unique trademark of mountain tourism in the region, these lodges and guesthouses are sometimes classified as being part of either the formal sector or the informal sector. In the present analysis they have been assumed to be a part of the informal sector. Most lodges are family establishments, the role of employees in managing these establishments being marginal. In Pakistan valley are practically owned by certain families and they are the only one who are ruling the tourism industry with the underhand support of PTDC. These families are so strong that they are the one who rule the office of the PTDC. It is interesting to note that the local communities tend to gain more from these activities from independent travelers than from group travelers. In the case of group travelers, the teams to accompany the groups are organised in big cities from where the trekking or mountaineering begins. The people who are hired are often not from the communities through which the tourists will trek. The porters and other staff accompanying these tours and expeditions have also caused significant environmental damage, through the use of firewood for cooking and keeping warm. Porters accompanying independent travelers tend to be from the local area and do not make an additional demand on the natural resources of the area. They are also fewer in numbers and are generally well cared for by the travelers who employ them.
Collection and sale of firewood from forest areas is another major occupation through which local communities have made economic gains from mountain tourism. Lets hope for a prosper future Recreation tourism tends to be concentrated in pockets and controlled by external investments. Economic gains for the local populations tend to be limited. The potential for economic gains can be fully realised by dispersing tourism destinations. The places where the tourist stay and have their meals are now concentrated in small towns, instead of being in villages at walking distance from each other. It will be important to evolve strategies for dispersing tourist destinations if gains for local communities are to be maximised.
The experience in Nepal has shown that tourism and conservation can reinforce each other especially if strategies and processes to ensure gains to local communities are put in place. Starting with a concern for conservation, the process in Nepal moved on to assist local communities to maximise gains from tourism, realising that this could be a major incentive for involving these communities in conservation activities. Developing and strengthening local institutions such as lodge owners associations, women’s groups, forest protection and management committees and village councils have played an important role in making conservation and tourism programmes effective. This should be cornerstone for all future strategies, planning and intervention.
There are three areas where women can play a significant role, providing hospitality, providing indirect inputs through horticultural, animal husbandry and handicrafts and minimising the impact of tourism on natural resources. Participation for providing hospitality and for improving the natural resource base has either happened spontaneously or has been easy to promote. Promotion of activities that are indirectly linked to tourism has not been that easy. It would be important to understand the causes. It may be that in popular destinations activities directly linked with tourism bring the best returns for capital and enterprise, and people turn to other activities only when entry into the tourist industry is restricted or when the potential from tourism is fully exhausted. It might help to take a broader perspective and look beyond the immediate periphery of popular tourist destination while planning to promote economic activities as backward and forward linkages to tourism. Handicrafts have been neglected as a part of tourism development programmes.
Owners of luxury hotels, tour organisers and travel agents and tourist departments can play an important role in ensuring that local communities gain more for tourism than they do at present. With an overriding concern for conservation pushing the process, these stakeholders have remained in the periphery of the process. This can be overcome if a sector approach to tourism, putting tourism rather than conservation at the centre of the process is pursued. Training and formulating strategies for easier access to credit and markets should be an important part of the sector approach. Apart from training the potential managers of lodges in rural areas it should also include training for women and men from villages and the poorer section of urban centres for serving in the formal sector. It should also provide training and other support for those engaged in the lowest rung of the informal sector, such as porters, dishwashers and itinerant vendors.
