Ladakh, often characterized by its landscape as broken moon land, land of abundant passes and mystic lama has an affluent asset to boast of.  Its lofty mountains, winding rivers, shimmering lakes, its vast wilderness, glorious boulder-strewn landscape, generous people and their unique tradition, culture and lifestyle are unparalleled.  Bounded by the great Himalayan range in the south and Karakoram range in the north, studded with the century-old monasteries and stupas has a magnetism on its own.  With such promising features, many travellers or tourist are fascinated and attracted by Ladakh's inimitable characteristics. Thus, the land entices thousands of visitors every year. Let's hear from what Urgain Lundup, CEO, Tourism Development Authority, has to say about the impact of tourism in Ladakh.

Q. Why weren’t tourist allowed here before 1974? Why was Ladakh opened to tourism in the same year?

Ladakh was an economically backward region of India. Given to its grim state of the economy, the government of India decided to bring in the tourism industry to improve its economy. Moreover, with its exquisite natural beauty, affluent in its culture, tradition and its picturesque landscape have the potential to attract visitors and sightseers. In 1974, government has opened her for tourism. In the same year, the 500 foreign tourists visited Ladakh and domestic tourists arrived is 27. It was a dawn of tourism in Ladakh. The figure rose to 1, 37702 in 2013; out of which 31,143 are foreign tourist and remaining 1, 06559 are domestic. In 2014, until May, the number of foreign tourist visited are 2904 and domestic is18, 699 making a total of 18,699.

Of course, the travellers come here with the purpose; they come here to experience new things. In chorus, we have the affluent assets to boast of; its lofty mountains, winding rivers, shimmering lakes, its vast wilderness, boulder-strewn landscape, generous people and their traditional lifestyle. Considering these tourist attractions, the government announced Ladakh to be opened to tourist as Ladakh has the assets which will entice a lot of visitors. So it did. Culturally, the century-old monasteries became the main tourist attraction, besides tourist takes pleasure in trekking around its lofty mountains.

Q. Economically, how much tourism contributes to the Ladakh's economy at large? How many people involved in the trade & how important is tourism to Ladakh economically?

Tourism contributes 50% to Leh's economy. No survey has been done in particular to measure the literal revenue made from tourist. Thus, we do not have exact figures. However, as per my rough calculation, a Guest Houses earn approximately 40 Lakhs per season (6 months). Hotels make up to 100 Lakhs. There are 420 guest houses in Ladakh. An upper-class guest house charges 700 per night (single occupancy), medium class guest house charges 700 per night, economy class charges 450 per night. They have only European Plan (room only).
Transportation cost is high while travelling to and from Ladakh. About a half of tourist’s budget goes to transportation. So, the profits made by Hotels and Guest Houses proprietor is from the rest of the budget a person has planned for the tour. The average duration of tourist stay is minimum 3 days and maximum 7 days.

Q. If Ladakh's dependency on the trade of tourism is such high, what if a global economic recession or natural calamities take place, owing to which if less no. of tourist pour in? Wouldn't it adversely affect the livelihood of people of Ladakh?

On 6th Aug 2010, a flash flood occurred at Ladakh has devastated the people of Ladakh; many life has been affected, extensive damage has been done to property and infrastructure. Nonetheless, the tourist never stops pouring in. In 2010, a number of foreign tourists visited is 22,115 and 55,685 home tourist came in, with the total of 77,800 as compared to the total of 79,087 in 2009. Though the number of foreign tourists has decreased however there is a huge increase in a number of home tourist in the same year. Disaster Management Programmes went on for almost a year. Next year, in 2011, the number has increased to remarkably 1, 79491.

Q. What are the standard tariffs for Hotels and Guest House in Ladakh?
The Government of India categorizes the price of star hotels. 4 Star Hotels like Grand Dragon and Zen Hotel, 3 Star Hotels; Glacier View Hotel, Ladakh Residency, The Druk Hotel etc are under government's control. Other hotels in Ladakh are categorized into 5 Classes; A Plus Class and A to D Class, For an A Plus hotels, the tariff per night are: for an American Plan (AP) its INR 5450, Modified American Plan (MAP): INR 4400, Continental Plan (CP): INR 3750 and European Plan (EU): INR 3450 (Double Room). Tariff for D-Classes are (for single Occupancy); for an AP its INR 1000, MAP: INR 1100, CP: INR 800 and EP: INR 700.I have already mentioned the price of Guest House.

There are 190 registered hotels in Leh; from which 14 hotels are A Plus Hotels, 76A Class, 53B Class, 29C Class, 18D Class.

Q. Many locals say; tourist demands for scarce resources has driven up the price of local goods. Thus, people who are not tourist beneficiaries suffer. Does that really hold true?

We don't have control over some prices. For example, supplies of construction material come from outside. We have no say on its price. We do not have control on high labour charge. But we do have a say on the price of consumer goods. Many of uneducated locals are not aware of the product price. Maximum Retail Price (MRP) and Consumer margin are printed on the product. Because of they ignorant; they do not ask for consumer margin and they tend to buy a product at its maximum price.

Food and Supply department decides the price for Local products like Leh Berry, local milk and vegetable.

Q. According to 2012 census, Leh has a population of 1, 17,232. A total number of tourist visited Leh in the same year is1, 78,970. The tourist- local’s ratio turns out to be more than 1:1. Doesn't that mean Leh has a surplus tourist keeping in mind its fragile ecology?

Fragile ecology is a matter of concern. The advent of tourist in Ladakh has helped boom its economy but there is a huge negative impact on its culture and ecosystem.
For example, a recent survey in Nubra says there are 852 rooms for tourist in Nubra. The minimum amount of water used per day by some of these rooms is 30161 gallons; minimum water used for toilet flush by tourist per day is 11928 gallons. A minimum amount of water used in western style washroom is 42089 gallons per day. So much of water is consumed by Tourist. The fate of Ladakh's ecology is at stake.

Q. What are the projects undertaken by the Tourism Development Authority?

Since 2007, the Government of India's Ministry of Tourism has started providing funds to the Tourism Development Authority, Leh through the state administrative department of tourism. The budget of INR 4.68 Crore was sanctioned. Out of 12 proposed projects 9 has been completed and 3 projects are still under progress.

In 2008, Tegar and Sumoor, Nubra has been declared as Tourist Villages under the Rural Tourism scheme as both the villages have potential and are incomparable in terms of its beauty as well as historical and cultural heritage. A fund of 68 lakhs has been sanctioned to implement the project: "Tourist village Summor & Tegar''. For the first time in the history of tourism in Ladakh, both the villages are marked out on the map of the world as tourist villages.

The two parts of the same project were the Hardware (infrastructure) & Software (activities).
The Hardware part, which has a budget of 48, 93,415 has been implemented by the Tourism Development Authority, Leh. This Hardware component includes facilities such as the construction of Art and Craft centre, local kitchen, artisan gallery, museum, guest houses, open courtyard for music presentation, mini theatre, benches etc. This project was commissioned when the Tourism minister came here last year.

The Software work plan, with the budget of 20 Lakh, is been executed by the Tegar Thundel Tsogspa in collaboration with Himalayan Cultural Heritage Foundation (HCHF) under the Capacity Building for Service Provider Scheme (CBSP). The activities consists of a community awareness programme of the tourism process, tourism product development, training for packaging, development of marketing activities, building capacity of  the village groups for entertainment.

In 2009, financial assistance by government of India known as Central Financial Assistance (CFA) sanctioned 55.23 lakh for refurbishment of Matho monastery. There are 3 parts to the refurbishment; renovation of monuments, beautification, roof treatment by making mud pushka.

Under the tourist infrastructure development facilities of Jammu, Kashmir and Leh, a sum of 7.46 Cr has been sanctioned in 2011-12. Of which, Leh circuit has 13 components. Such as, construction of Public Convenience ( toilets) at monasteries of Alchi, Rizong, Timisgang, Lamayuru, Tsoltak, Chemday, Matho an interpretation centre at Hemis monastery , construction of stage at Jivetsal (funds is also provided under the State sector scheme), toilets for tourist at Spituk monastary, Imam Bara, building of toilets and an interpretation centre, construction of pathway, solar light, signage at Phyang monastery, construction of pathway, parking, solar light etc at Thiksey monastery. The Construction of some of the PCs was completed and some are still under construction.
In 2011-12, another project has been approved. Total cost of the project is 4.990 Lakhs, which is for the construction of integrated tourist infrastructure at Leh, J&K for development of Leh as a tourist destination under the Product Infrastructure Destination Circuit Development. This is one of the schemes out of 7 components to the scheme. 4 works are completed and 3 still on progress.

TDA, Leh has also put up 20 signage of Do’s and Don’ts near monasteries premises, since we receive few complains for monasteries officers about the behaviours of visitors

Q. What are future plans of TDA?

Facilitating the tourist to its destination is destination management; is a main focus of TDA, Leh. So, the future plan includes the management of tourist destination. Public Toilets are put up according to the need of tourist.TDA is an autonomous body, which is under the immediate control of Secretary Tourism. We are the stakeholder.
Given to the Ladakh's strategic location; bordering Tibet and Pakistan Government has judiciously opened the places for tourist, keeping in mind the security of the tourist. We have different circuit such as Pangong circuit, Tsomoriri circuit, Nubra, Dha- Hanu, Leh-Manali Road circuit etc.

Q. Tell us about the inner-line permit.

In 1994, the government restricted the areas like Pangkong, Nubra and Dha-Hanu. There are 7 circuits in total; i) Pangong up to Spangmik (circuit extended to Manmerak in 2010) ii) Leh to Korzog via Chumathang, Mahe. iii) Drukche Monastery, iv) Leh to Diskit, Hundar, v) Panamik, vi) Saboo to Dugar, Khema, Kungru and vii) Brokpa, Dha- hanu. In 2010, Turtuk area was also opened.

The minimum number of tourist allowed in the group to those restricted areas is two; earlier it used to be four. The permission from District Magistrate is mandatory if a tourist wants to go to the mentioned area. They must have their passport and must register through registered travel agency since the tour operator is responsible for the safety of the tourist. If any mishap happened to the tourist during the journey, the government can take action under the Home Ministry Act against the travel agency who planned the respective tourist's itinerary to that circuit. The maximum duration a foreign tourist can dwell on those 7 circuits is 7 days in total; not 7 days on each circuit.

Q. Omar Abdullah once said: "Ladakh should either opt for cheap tourism like Manali or expensive tourism like Bhutan. Which type of tourism plan do we follow?

We have flexible tourism. Bhutan has very organized tourism as their government directly deals with the tourist. Tourist must pay amenities tax. At Ladakh, we do not charge any amenities tax at all. Tourism is a tax-holiday industry in J&K. At Bhutan, transportation for tourist is organised by the state, whereas in J&K, the private sector takes care of transportation. Let alone the amenities tax, the govt is not charging service tax from the hoteliers. In fact, the government is providing 30% investment subsidies to the hoteliers. For example, if one invest 1 Cr for the construction of a hotel with the facilities of 15 double bedrooms, dining hall, kitchen, parking, lobby, loan, pantry services, linen stores, provision stores, staff rooms etc, the government provide subsidies of 30 Lakhs on 1Cr which is offered at the end investment, when the hotels are registered, commissioned and made fully functional.

Q. How much was the foreign tourist charged to go to the inner-line regions?

I guess few amounts were charged as Environmental Fees. And some fees are imposed on tourist under the Wild Life Act if the places they go have wildlife sanctuaries. DC office will be answerable to this question.

Q, I observed from our conversation that the fragile ecology of Ladakh has been overlooked.  The quantity of tourist, blind constructions of Hotels and Guest House to accommodate them, more time and money has been spent on the tourist convenience. Ladakh's delicate ecosystem seems to be totally forgotten. What is your say on it?

There is no specific environmental department in Ladakh, which has statutory rights under the Environmental Act; to watch out on the ecology of Ladakh. If such sector exists, the guidelines will be set and regulated. Unfortunately, we do not have such organization.

Q. What about LEDeG?

Ladakh Ecological Development Group is an NGO, they have no legal authority over the environmental actions in Ladakh. They may have guidelines but many don’t follow it since there is no watchdog that enforces their guidelines.

Q. Don't you feel the need one such organisation?

Yes, I do. Why not? We have Notified Area of Leh (NAC) department, who look after the municipality of Leh. Their set of guidelines has been poorly regulated. They do collect waste every morning and evening, but still, there is no proper garbage management. I don't want to comment more on that.

Q. Rumour has it that the 'Home-stay' system has taken birth in Ladakh. Geographically, Ladakh is a remote area, economically; there is not much of infrastructure development during the early days. Since the Ladakhis are hospitable by nature, few tourists who visit Ladakh are hosted at their home and customs of home-stay began. Is it true?

Home-stay system does not come under the schemes of Government of Tourism Department of J&K. I don’t have much stay on it. The custom may have sprung up unsurprisingly or because of encouragement by environmental related NGOs.  I have seen Jigmet Takpa, Indian Forest Service Officer, persuading the villagers to put up with such customs as it seems more eco-friendly. They seem to have a scheme which encourages such environmentally healthy act.

In our schemes, we provide a 40% or a maximum 2 Lakhs, for a paying guest house, provided they want to upgrade it to more than 8 beddings, renovate the building by cementing floors, putting up tiles, maintaining good electricity, sanitary, furniture.

Q. You are the first and present CEO, TDA. You are of course in touch with the tourist related subject. Personally what do think are the impact of Tourism on Ladakh's affluent culture?

Modernization came in Ladakh with the advent of Tourism. Ladakhis culture has degraded with the dawn of Tourism in the area. For example, earlier Ladakhis were known for their hospitality, now little did we observe youth with such fine character. I think Generation gap is one of the reasons why there is a huge change in the nature of Ladakhis.

Q. Is tourism a boon or bane for Ladakhis? Considering its fragile eco-system?

As I hold the position of CEO, TDA Leh, I must talk in favour of improving the economic condition of people of Ladakh. Unless there is a statutory guideline for the entire people of Ladakh, conservationism is hardly possible since there seem no immediate benefits for a person.

There are scarcity of water in Leh, waste management problems, it stings most of the time at Newshara Gali, and no one seems to be doing anything about it.
Culturally, we became more fancy and flashy. Our values and tradition has been polluted. Some people now use a lot of foul language or words even the tourist hardy uses those. People seems to have forgotten their inherent good manners, some behave bad to tourists.

Q. I think there is a surplus tourist at Leh, How about control tourism?

The marketing of Ladakh is being done in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata almost in every other states of India. For example, there is makemytrip.com in Mumbai. They hoard tourist at Ladakh. It's a business. They get accommodation and travels packages from private agencies at Leh. Other travel agencies here are being affected by such outside agencies. Agencies outside Ladakh bring in a lot of tourist into Ladakh.

Q. Leh's district administration has no control on the flow of tourist at all?

Accommodations and transportation are taken care of by the private agencies. We cannot discourage the private sector to bring in tourist. In one way or the other, tourism trade is helping in boosting Ladakh’s economy.

Q. Tourism is concentrated in the predominantly Buddhist settlements of the Indus Valley of which of Leh is the hub. I observe that only a handful of Ladakhis who runs Hotels, guest house and restaurant benefits from trade. There is an uneven distribution of the money earned from tourist. What about the economy of families who are not tourist beneficiaries?

Distribution of money is not planned at all; it's not organized. We may encourage rural tourism, agriculture tourism, adventure tourism, rafting tourism such as in Chilling Sumda, the money which tourist bring may be distributed evenly amongst different village. However, travelling and accommodation expenses are most expensive and take away almost 70% of a tourist budget. Thus, there is an uneven distribution of money earned from tourist.

Q. What are the measures taken by district administration, Leh to curb the adverse impact of tourism?

Hill Council has issued orders to levy a charge on tourists to protect the environment. The fees collected were used to put up infrastructures like garbage bins. It's difficult to answer the environmental related queries, as I am working under a particular authority and must follow the instruction put up in the 1970 Act, when TDA was set up. I am accountable to tourist infrastructure development only. If I am directed or ordered to watch out on our environment, I shall then be able to answer the environment related questions.

Q. Does Ladakh follow sustainable tourism?

In Leh, every hotel has submersible pumps. They use the water according to their convenience. There is no body to keep a check on them as of how much water is been used per day or week means that we do not have a sustainable tourism. Bearing capacity of water and electricity has gone beyond saturation. Thousands of vehicles run on road and parking is a huge issue.  I have no powers to talk on how to have a sustainable tourism. Leh municipality comes under the urban development project. Thus, it’s been regulated them. I don't have a right to interfere in their plan.

Q. What are the changes you observed pre and post tourism?

Attitude of people has changed phenomenally. People residing at Leh became more modernised and acquired a keen sense of commercialization. Rural people started migrating to Leh town and thus follow the same suite. Our rich moral values are vanishing, it's almost shunned. However, the brighter side of tourism is; it’s bringing money in abundance.