Policies governing Ecotourism and Tourism in Nepal

- Ninth five year plan of HMG and concept paper for the tenth five year plan - Tourism as key sector for economic development and will be expanded into the villages.

- Other relevant plans and strategies - Tourism Sector Master plan, National Conservation Strategy 1988, NEPP 1993.

- Nepal Tourism Board Act 1997 - Features conservation and protection of natural and cultural heritage and establishment of a board to support tourism development.
- Ministry of Home Affairs develops and implements regulations and guidelines that affect access by visitors to certain areas in the country.

- National Park and Wildlife Conservation Act 1973 and 1993 Amendment - Buffer zone regulations that establish Buffer zone Committees and access to protected area entry fees (30 percent-50 percent).

- Forest Act 1964 and its Amendments 1993 - Features community forestry regulations and its subsequent improvement of 2000. Establishing committee represented by different local stakeholders. Local level institution for resource planning and management at the local level under the authority of DNPWC Act 1973 and improved regulation 2000.

Policies governing Ecotourism and Tourism in Sri Lanka

• "Sri" means "Fortunate" and "Lanka' is an Island - or it is called internationally 'The Pearl of the Indian Ocean'. Sri Lanka covers 25000 km2 (Bhutan - 18,000 m2; Maldives - 115 km2) and has a population of 19 million. The distance between Sri Lanka and India is 35 km.

• Organised tourism was introduced to Sri Lanka in late 1960s as a "Sand-sea and sand destination" and even today the policy remains the same. Since Sri Lanka has an "Open Economy" there are no restrictions on tourists visiting the island.

• Tourism is the 4th major foreign exchange earner in Sri Lanka in 2001, Sri Lanka earned some US$ 300 million as foreign exchange out of 450,000 international arrivals. The economic leakage is very high, approximately 70 percent or more.

• The main traditional markets for tourism in Sri Lanka are - UK, Germany, France, Italy, Scandinavian and Benelux countries.

• Sri Lanka Tourism Board is working on a 'Medium Term Strategic Marketing Plan (MTSMP) with a view to expand the market possibilities to the countries in Eastern Europe, China, India, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan and Korea.

• At the moment there is no national ecotourism policy present in Sri Lanka. We, Sri Lanka Ecotourism Foundation (SLEF) proposed to establish a 'National Secretariat" to guide ecotourism in Sri Lanka, representing all stakeholders with broad representation.

• However, there is no important policy change in mass tourism, but the mass tour operators in Sri Lanka (around 6 to 7 companies) have taken the responsibility of operating Ecotours/Ecolodges sometimes by just adding the 'eco' prefix in to their mass tourism packages.

Policies governing Ecotourism and Tourism in Bhutan

Potential for tourism growth in Bhutan is considerable. However, economic gains are not always in the forefront. A balanced approach to such gains is considered vital in the development process of Bhutan. Bhutan's pride lies in its inherent policy of placing high priority on conserving the country's natural and cultural heritage. The government has therefore embarked on a very cautious approach to tourism development. The basic principle being the regulation of tourism growth with a vision of safeguarding the interests of the nation before the economic gains. Currently, the concept of "High Value Low Volume" tourism is in vogue in Bhutan. 

We recognise the fact that tourism in Bhutan today is basically a form of ecotourism, and we have therefore chosen to precede all other tourism plans with the preparation of an ecotourism strategy. The preparation of a long-term national tourism development master plan is proposed to be taken up in the coming ninth five year plan period starting from July 2002.

The National Ecotourism Strategy has been prepared by the Department of Tourism (DoT) with support from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Bhutan Programme and technical inputs of the Tourism Resource Consultants, New Zealand and is in the final stages of publication. Some of the tourism products that the DoT are contemplating of improving and also developing upon are listed below:

• Identifying more festivals and enhance cultural tours;

• Enhance treks for long duration visits;

• Black Necked Crane and Phobjikha Valley visits;

• Bird Watching and other special interest products;

• Health centres, traditional medicine and hot springs;

• River rafting, rock climbing and other adventure activities;

• Fostering community participation through community visitor centres, family lodges and nature clubs;

• Visits to National Parks; and,

• Handicrafts and painting.