Shift from Mass & Fast to Slow & Sentient Travel
Pictorial Essay
The tourism industry is one of the major carbon emitters in the world. It accounts for about 8% of the global greenhouse gas emissions (Lenzen, M., Sun, YY., Faturay, F. et al. 2018). Majority of these emissions come from Mass & Fast tourism style.
Mass & fast tourism not only damages the environment and biodiversity but also rips apart the cultural and social fabric increasingly becoming a threat to local traditions.
It creates pressure on the infrastructure & FEW (Food, Energy & Water) resources of the region leading to economic conflicts.
Inhumane Leisure & Pleasure tourism involves just the seeing of sights with a blind eye toward their impact on the local surroundings & communities creating regional mess & misery.
The herd mentality concentrates on a particular region which is neither beneficial for the tourists nor the local ecosystem. The picture depicts an innumerable number of tourists in Pangong Lake. The lake that was known for its serene beauty is now full of tourists and cars during the season. To cater to the tourists, camps and hotels are springing up near the lake. A decade ago, the place produced almost no waste. But the arrival of so many tourists has resulted in vehicles clogging narrow roads, and sewage and plastic pollution.
Also who gets the share of the tourism creates a rift in the community with everyone running after a larger piece of the pie. Ladakh once a paradise is now lost to human greed.
In earlier times travel was more than seeing sights- an inner and outer exploration and in most cases a pilgrimage. Today tourism has grown into a desperate short escape from the life which often leaves one tired and fatigued rather than rejuvenated and learnt.
What we urgently need is sentient & slow tourism. By paying attention and radically rethinking the purpose of tourism & travel we can plan it better by:
- setting out clear rules and guidelines for travellers,
- putting a full stop to fast & mass tourism,
- laying out the ground for slow-paced and sentient travel,
- sharing the economic benefits with the community members equally,
- respecting local culture & tradition
- embracing diversification over concentration
It would require a threefold approach, #1 Externally at the policy level, #2 Internally at the community level & #3 at the Individual level. But as I write this, the change is already in the air with few enterprises now reimagining travel. From cleaning the waste generated from mindless travel, to selflessly volunteering in the remotest of places, to curating earth-friendly journeys, their insights & heartwork are helping forge a new beautiful reality for tourism. After all, in the words of Miriam Beard “travel is not just seeing sights, it’s a change that goes on deep within, in the ideas of living.” To make it worthwhile we need more & more such initiatives in more & more locations.
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