Tourism is the economic backbone of Uttarakhand and many other regions in our country. Employing more than 90+ million people (directly and indirectly), the Indian travel and tourism sector contributed nearly $194 billion, around 6.8% of GDP, during the calendar year of 2019. Increasing disposable incomes, the growing love for travel across age groups and the springing up of new travel destinations will drive the growth of the sector in the future.
Uttarakhand is well poised to position itself as an attractive travel destination given its wide diversity of offerings in terms of pilgrimage, wildlife, trekking, rafting, wellness and weekend tourism. One of the most promising sub-segments in the travel landscape is the homestay sector. Amongst its many other benefits; homestays boost local economies, promote low carbon footprint tourism models and help to even out the carrying capacity load from typical destinations like Mussoorie and Nainital.
While tourism is usually seen from the lens of leisure, employment and economic development; not much attention has been paid to establishing linkages between the travel business and generation of waste, specifically plastic waste. The "Plastic Talk for Homestays of Uttarakhand" was an attempt to bridge this gap and sensitise young, first generation, homestay entrepreneurs to move towards zero waste homestays.
Organised under the aegis of Learnet Skills and Swami Rama Himalayan University, Jolly Grant, Dehradun, the program included a virtual session with SDC Founder Anoop Nautiyal. Anoop discussed the challenges associated with waste and provided insights on minimising waste generation to achieve zero waste homestays.
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