The Tourism Sustainability Summit 2025 in New Delhi united top industry leaders to discuss innovative sustainable travel strategies, climate resilience, and eco-friendly tourism solutions. With Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, Minister of Tourism, as the Chief Guest, the tourism sustainability summit emphasized India's tourism sector as a major driver of economic growth. Key discussions covered climate resilient tourism, AI integration in tourism, and empowering rural communities for sustainable development. Discover how the Tourism Sustainability Summit 2025 is paving the way for India's tourism growth while promoting responsible travel and preserving cultural heritage.
#TourismSustainabilitySummit
#SustainableTravel
#EcoFriendlyTourism
#ClimateResilientTravel
#IndianTourism
~PR.100~HT.408~
#TourismSustainabilitySummit
#SustainableTravel
#EcoFriendlyTourism
#ClimateResilientTravel
#IndianTourism
~PR.100~HT.408~
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Tourism Sustainability Summit 2025 Taking a significant step towards integrating
00:13sustainability into tourism, the Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Association of India
00:18FHRAI is hosting the Tourism Sustainability Summit 2025.
00:24This platform provides an opportunity for in-depth discussion on the future of sustainable
00:29tourism, not just in India but globally. Let's take a look.
00:59M.P. is the only state which has increased its forest cover in previous decades. So this
01:28ethos has been built into the tourism vertical as well. So we are trying to diversify the
01:33tourism portfolio. We are trying to make our destinations crowd-proof. We are trying to
01:39do all kinds of studies to ensure that, you know, the carrying capacities of our, you
01:45know, these kind of very sensitive places is not breached. And also we are working with
01:51the industry to help them, to facilitate them, to learn from them that how we can make tourism
01:57more sustainable, how we can involve the tourists also in contributing their bit to
02:03become responsible tourists. I think our Honorable Prime Minister Narendra
02:06Modi Ji is making great strides and making sure that we are implementing that into every
02:12walk of life with his version of how India is today. Vasudeva Kutumbakka. We have pretty
02:19much opened our arms to the world, but he's also promoting internal domestic tourism,
02:24which is a big thing because we have 1.5 billion people and we ourselves are our own
02:29huge market. So between the two, India is going to surge as far as tourism goes and
02:36sustainability is key. So today we saw the culmination of PHTCCI and, you know, the bodies
02:45that are the FH and RA, they are amazing because they are propagating the movement where it's
02:50necessary. And I think this is where we are headed to, success.
02:56The summit brings together all stakeholders, which is governmental agency, the government
03:02and the academia and the industry people and also the non-governmental agencies who are
03:07into the field of sustainability. The idea is to firstly to communicate to the policymakers
03:13that yes, the industry is serious about sustainability. We are serious about our environment. We are
03:20serious about growth, but not at the cost of the environment. And in that mission,
03:27there is a constant research that is being made by our own center of excellence. There
03:31was a report that was released last year. There's a report that is released this year
03:34also. The report highlights the best practices. It, in fact, collates information from the
03:40champions in sustainability in our sector. It earmarks real points of areas where sustainability
03:48is essential. And finally, it says that all of this is going to be beneficial and it's
03:53not a cost or an expensive proposition. It's a proposition which will be beneficial to
03:59the hotel in the long run, beneficial to our community, to our environment. And all of
04:04this is helping us much better in our policy advocacy with the government so that we work
04:09in tandem. We want growth and we want growth at a sustainable manner. And all of this is
04:16helping us to project ourselves with the government as to how we move forward in our
04:22quest for, you know, reaching the three trillion economy that we want to do by 2047. It can't
04:28be done if we are not sustainable. Sustainability is all about respecting the environment, respecting
04:33the planet, the earth, which has given us this life, this place to live in, right? So
04:37yeah, I think as an artist, we would be there for any, this kind of a cause. It's so, so
04:43special and so amazing. It's a big honor to be here in India at the Tourism Sustainable
04:49Summit. While there are so many best practices, quite frankly, you have a few in this country.
04:55ITC Hotels, for example, taking very bold action on energy renewal, waste management,
05:03water consumption and how they manage water. Lemon Trees Hotels, which is leadership in
05:09social responsibility, particularly in engaging those that are disadvantaged or those with
05:14disabilities into the workforce. There are so many best practices out there. Iberostar
05:20in Spain, who are doing some fantastic work on coastal tourism and particularly on investments
05:27in coral reef restoration. To Accor Hotels, who are doing amazing work on planting trees
05:34and mangrove investments to ocean investments. You know, I have the blessing of working with
05:41industry from all parts of the world. And I see the best of all. We have to look at sustainability
05:47in a holistic way. It's not just about the environment. We have to balance in the social
05:52dimension, the community dimension. And what we have in our alliance is we look at people,
05:57planet, place and prosperity. And so by looking at that dimension, then you don't miss anything
06:05because you can't look at each of these things on their own. We could be seen as an industry
06:10that is the guardians of nature because we have a vested interest in ensuring that the destination
06:17or the planet survives. If the planet or the destination fails, I'm out of business as an
06:24industry. We're out of business. Nobody else can say that. We have a vested interest in making sure
06:29that succeeds. Top 100 companies, when they decide to go and select a hotel for the conference,
06:35one of the key, you know, areas they look at from that hotel is that how green practices, how much
06:42green practices the hotel adopts. So it's not only, you know, good for us, for our businesses, it's
06:47good for the planet. It's good for our children. It's good for the future. So I think the awareness
06:53is there and it's getting, you know, people are getting more aware by the day. Today's
06:58industry and where India is in tourism, there's a lot of knowledge gap. People are not aware of
07:04what the sustainable practices are. People are not aware as to what are the benefits of adopting
07:10sustainable solutions. The government, FHRI and panels such as this is doing a fantastic job to
07:16educate all stakeholders that sustainable solutions is not only good for the environment, but it's
07:22also good for business. And we at Rhythm are able to really see that through much enhanced
07:28bottom lines and profitability once we've adopted a lot of sustainable solutions. The guest who is
07:33paying 24,000, 40,000 rupees a night, how can you expect that he will support you? It's just today
07:40conference, one word is there, mindset. So how can you change the mindset of the guest when he's
07:46paying 24,000, 40,000 a night and how can you expect from him that he will support you in
07:52energy saving, water saving or other things? Give him some kind of rewards. Yes, you save this thing,
07:59we'll support you, we'll give you some rewards or give him a kind of, as a respect regards,
08:04give him some kind of, okay, high tea with us. We'll give you the complimentary high tea,
08:08some kind of incentives you have to give them. This meaningful dialogue on sustainable tourism
08:13reinforced the commitment to making the hospitality industry more environmentally
08:17conscious and responsible. The summit set the tone for the greener and more sustainable future
08:22for the tourism sector. This is Niyati, OneIndia.