Government to evolve balanced tourism policy, says Puducherry Minister

PUDUCHERRY

The government will evolve a policy on responsible tourism that balances economic and livelihood benefits with the preservation of heritage integrity and conservation of environment, Tourism Minister K. Lakshminarayanan said on Wednesday.

He was addressing the valedictory of the ninth Pondicherry Heritage Festival (PHF) that featured about 55 events over 45 days on the theme of ‘Responsible Tourism’ after presenting the Guardian Of Our Heritage Award, 2023, posthumously to civil rights activist, conservationist and co-founder of the Alliance for Good Governance (AGG) CH Balamohanan. Representatives of the organisation received the award.

Pointing out that while the arrival of an estimated 19 lakh tourists annually signified a significant boost to the local economy, the hospitality sector and livelihood improvement of even small traders, Mr. Lakshminarayanan said the government was also increasingly aware of the consequences, especially on the traffic and solid waste management fronts, of witnessing such high volumes of visitors in a small town.

Reiterating the government’s resolve to preserve the heritage of the town, he said the recent notification of 114 buildings as heritage structures was a step in this direction. “This process is continuing and we hope with local participation we will be able to bring more privately owned properties under the heritage classification,” he said.

As part of a larger ambition, Puducherry was pursuing the UNESCO World Heritage City tag, taking inspiration from Ahmedabad and Jaipur, he added.

According to the Minister, the government will consider including the annual Pondicherry Heritage Festival in the official tourism calendar and co-institute awards to honour contributions towards heritage preservation.