Lobzang Vissudha: The term ‘Sustainable tourism’ and ‘Sustainability’ is something that people are using more often as they become more environmentally and socially conscious. And with the growing tourism industry the concern over the fragile environment, depleting resources, etc. is also becoming a debatable topic. 

 In 1974, when Ladakh was first opened for tourism, around 400 to 500 tourists used to visit a year, and with time we saw the numbers rising every year. Today in 2023, around 6 to 7 Lakh tourists visit Ladakh every year. The number might fascinate many people but the question is, does Ladakh have enough resources to deal with it? And that’s where the word Sustainable becomes relevant because there is a saying, “Tourism can be a double-edged sword. It can bring economic benefits but can also harm the environment and local communities.”

Tourism is an industry that allows people to visit different places and explore unique attractions. In Ladakh, the tourist comes to see the lifestyle, mountains, monasteries, and culture. However, it’s important to ensure that these treasure attractions shouldn’t be impacted by growing tourism. We have come across various incidents in Pangong, Nubra where tourists are driving on dunes, and lakes, chasing away wildlife, etc. Irresponsible tourism can result in damaging the destination and resources. If we end up damaging the destination and resources of Ladakh irresponsibly then people who rely on tourism directly for income may become jobless. Earlier tourists used to visit Ladakh for trekking, mountaineering, camping and to see Ladakh’s culture and tradition which used to benefit many helpers, homestay owners, guides, and small villagers. But now the situation has changed, tourism is growing rapidly and is only benefitting some sectors of people. The tourist mostly travels to a few famous areas like Pangong Lake, Nubra, and Magnetic Hill which puts pressure on the place and keeps many other places unexplored and not benefited. 

E.g. during the COVID pandemic, we have seen a life of people all over the world stand still. In Ladakh, people who rely solely on tourism for livelihood experience significant financial difficulties as compared to others. In 2017, the Public Health Engineering department had to send water to some hotels in Leh through tank water because their water source got dried up due to excessive use of borewells. I feel it’s a warning for us. Water scarcity is becoming a rising issue and many of the places in Ladakh are already facing it.

 I feel we all should learn from that experience, tourism cannot last long if we don’t make it sustainable. 

Ladakh is a separate Union territory now and we must have a good policy for a better tomorrow, but sadly the situation is still just the same as in J&K. All these years we have been hearing the concern that tourism policies are being framed but is still not very clear. There is a need for strict regulation or policy so that every tourist activity carries out smoothly. Last year due to a huge influx of tourism in Ladakh, there were shortages of taxis and hotels. This shows that there is a lack of policies and regulations. 

The region is facing mass tourism, also known as selfie tourism, bonfire tourism, and bike tourism where tourists only come to a party and don’t take responsibility for the damage they are causing. It’s important to avoid causing harm to the environment and wildlife and to respect the surroundings. Tourists should be mindful of their actions and be responsible for their impact on the environment.

SOLUTION:
•    There should be a policy and guidelines in Ladakh that includes a cap on the number of tourists allowed in Ladakh. Serious discussion and deliberation with all the stakeholders, including public representatives, govt agencies, tourism departments, wildlife departments, and all other concerned parties to frame guidelines are necessary.
•    Promotion of Homestays. Homestays are also famous in Ladakh, but nowadays, people tend to view homestays as a replacement for hotels, which is not the intended concept. Homestays are meant to provide tourists with an opportunity to experience village life and stay with local families, this can benefit both the tourists and locals alike. 

Padma Rigzen:  Sustainability can have different connotations depending on how it’s used. In general, it means the ability to maintain or support something over time. It can also imply that we need to make changes to ensure that we can continue to support the planet and its resources for future generations.
 
Secondly, we should also think about what Tourism is. I think tourism is just a trade although lots of people in Ladakh depend on tourism and in the past, people used to trade goods across long distances using animals like Yak, Horses, and Dzo. This was an important way for people to get the resources they needed and to stay connected with other cultures. One of the biggest impacts of tourism is the commodification of our culture. In my village Hemis-skukpachan, all the dances we do during our losar festival are dedicated to the ‘LHAS AND LHUS’, those are sacred spiritual dances for our spirits of the lands, and nowadays we danced in front of tourists with those dances.

Only 6 to 7% of people are directly dependent on tourism, not everyone. Although people are saying 50% of the GDP consists of tourism GDP means money coming in and money going out and there are only a few handful of elite Ladakhi who get the benefits of tourism. So the word sustainability can be considered problematic due to its multifaceted definition and as for tourism, it can be regarded as a form of trade. So given this background when we think about the sustainability of tourism I think tourism should not be sustainable, it should be Ladakh that needs to be sustainable. The current path that we have chosen is not at all sustainable in tourism. Water consumption in tourism is very high, the average water consumption of a Ladakhi is around 40ltr per day but the average water consumption of Tourists is more than 100ltr per day. The water comes from glaciers and only a handful of glaciers are left now; to get the needed water and to sustain the tourism industry we’ve depended on groundwater extraction. 

On the one hand, we are consuming extracted groundwater and on another hand, some hotels haven’t installed sewage treatment plants. The people associated with hotels are demanding the administration to give them an extension of years to install a sewage treatment plant, meanwhile, the waste material from hotels is mixed with the drinking water i.e. groundwater. 

And if we talk about the sustainability of tourism in Ladakh we specifically imagined tourists from West Bengal, Punjab, and young tourists roaming around on bikes and partying in the allies of Leh but they aren’t the only ones seasonally and occasionally come to visit Ladakh, there’s a huge number of migrant labors in Ladakh of which we don’t have any specific data. How many labors come in Ladakh? Where do they live and what kind of sanitary practices do they practice? Instead of telling tourists about do’s and dont's I think there should be strict guidelines for migrant labors. 

The environment is very important to live a healthy life. We all can live without Thar and Fortuner cars but cannot live without clean water and clean air. Our priority should be our environment and as a young Ladakhi, I feel that climate change and global warming is a reality. 

SOLUTION
•    All the stakeholders in the tourism industry should focus on promoting small-scale homestay tourism.
•    Tourism should not be disruptive to Ladakhi society and rural life.
•    These days people are good at hypocrisy, in the name of cleaning the environment picking wrappers here and there will not solve the problem. If people are concerned about Ladakh, it's everyone's responsibility to take care of our mother earth.