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TOURISM
Tourism has been growing at a rapid pace in different countries of the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region. While this undoubtedly has many benefits, the growing number of tourists is posing a challenge to tourism’s sustainablility and the region’s resources. The use of a digital platform, GreenHKH, can help promote sustainable tourism in the HKH region. Users can access an integrated booking and payment set-up, get information on traditional knowledge sources, and access sustainably produced goods and services. This solution will be initially implemented in the Bhutanese market and then scaled up to include India and Nepal. It will have positive social, economic, and environmental impacts, including greater and more inclusive employment, rural development, foreign exchange earnings, environmental awareness, and greater conservation efforts.
The tourism industry is an important source of economic growth, investment, and large-scale employment generation in all countries of the Hindu Kush Himalaya (HKH) region. A more sustainable tourism offers great potential for transformative change in the entire region. Sustainable tourism can be inclusive, and generate jobs – including for women – and thereby not just boost incomes, but also reduce outmigration. It can also be an important contributor to varied Sustainable Development Goals.
Eco-tourism, as an industry, has been growing at 10–30 per cent a year in different countries of the HKH region. The ballooning number of tourists has been posing a challenge to the sustainability of the tourism industry. One way this can be addressed is through a digital aggregation platform that can help promote sustainable tourism in the region. However, such a platform is lacking. There are a limited number of functional online e-marketplaces and digital technologies for authentic green goods, and travel and tourism services. This has restricted the benefits that could be leveraged by tapping into the increasing demand for eco-tourism and green goods.
We have developed a one-stop online marketplace named ‘GreenHKH’ for tourism and the sale of green products in the HKH region. The site has an integrated booking and payment set-up. It also provides navigation for reliable information on traditional knowledge sources and green certification programmes. Through the digital aggregation platform, people can experience green tourism, and access local and sustainably produced goods and services.. The vision of this solution is to place the HKH region on the global map as a green, inclusive, and resilient tourism destination.
Our solution will be implemented in three phases spread over a three-year period. It starts in Bhutan, and then scales up to cover the rest of the ICIMOD member countries. Phase 1: Creating a minimum viable product (MVP) of the digital aggregator for the Bhutanese travel and tourism market, which will comprise a travel e-commerce website with an integrated booking and payment system. Phase 2:Developing a mobile application suitable for Android and/or iOS operating systems, and operationalising the MVP in the Bhutanese market, by deploying an innovative private sector-led business model; and Phase 3: Based on the Bhutan MVP experience and learning, the project will be scaled up to include other regional member countries of the HKH region such as India and Nepal. Our digital aggregator will link the existing network of green businesses to relevant markets, facilitate access to finance, provide appropriate knowledge related to green practices, and promote equitable socio-economic development through an inclusive, sustainable, and decentralised tourism industry development model.
• Social impacts: Improved social facilities and infrastructure, new employment opportunities, a better quality of life for marginalised communities, and more socially conscious enterprises. • Environmental impacts: Increased environmental awareness, sustainable communities, immersive cultural experiences, and environmental conservation. • Economic impacts: Multiplier economic benefits and externalities, including rural development and greater foreign exchange earnings.
Kezang GreenHKH, Bhutan
Each of the RMS solutions are linked to the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals outlined by the UN in 2015. The SDGs that this intervention contributes to are as follows: