How would have the concept of hosting strangers in your house or staying with an unknown family on a vacation sounded a decade back? Hardly anyone would have been comfortable with such a concept. But we have seen people getting comfortable with staying in homestays, using Uber, sharing office spaces, and using many such peer-to-peer platforms. Thes...
On May 7th, 2020 we held a Virtual Ecoclub Member Meeting to discuss 'Pandemic Adaptation Strategies for Ecotourism'. Our aim was to brief each other on local conditions and compare notes on what can be done during and in the aftermath of the pandemic so as to protect and support our businesses, our communities and Ecotourism. Due to the pandemic lockdown millions of tourism employees, professionals and small business-owners have suddenly been left unemployed or precariously employed by near bankrupt businesses. If international tourism recovers too slowly, many of them will need green (re)training and new green jobs and opportunities outside tourism. The pandemic itself can only be stopped if a cure is found, if the virus mutates into a less potent form (there are some indications in late May 2020) or if there is mass immunity. It is as if a huge earthquake has taken place (the disease) and we are now waiting for the tsunami (the economic impact). Depending on how long it will last and if there is a second wave in late 2020, it will either be a case of Darwinian 'survival of the fittest' (quickest, smartest, more flexible) for communities, employees and businesses, or a more...
Booni—A Must Visit Destination Hemmed in by gigantic Booni Zom (6,542 m) to the East and Hindukush Mountain Range to the West, Booni Town is located 85 kilometers to the north-east of district Chitral (Lower). Spread around 8 square kilometers, it is the headquarter of the newly established district Chitral Upper. Traditional hospitality mark...
Looking forward, we can begin to reimagine what the future of tourism may look like. More people will likely seek out less travelled destinations that are free from crowds, perceived to be safe, and that are known to be clean, green and pristine. Small group and private travel experiences are going to become more popular. Travelers will demand tour...
Annual Kalash Chilimjusht festival falls victim to COVID-19 - Chitral News
Mountain Homestays – An Authentic Mountain Experience Mountain homestays is a community empowerment initiative that focuses on promoting rural destinations by developing homestays in partnership with the locals. The focus is on reaching out to communities living in the remotest parts of the Himalayan belt in India, such as in Ladakh region in north...
The coro-doomsday has stunned the mainstream bringing various fringes to the limelight. In celebratory mood, tourism-haters, elitist pseudo-revolutionaries, agoraphobics and misanthropic degrowthists, to die-hard fans of the "dictatorship of the proletariat" to alt-right racist conspiracists, UFOlogists and so on, a pluralistic cacophony of "we told you so". Nope, you told us nothing and you still do not have anything to tell us. Your theories are "not even wrong", your thinking is unoriginal, self-defeating, pessimistic, malthusian and discounts the propensity of humans to evolve and progress in the face of natural adversity. Yes, Marx at 202 years old is always relevant, especially if we read between the lines, but so are all other great philosophers from A to Z, from Aristotle to Zizek (pun intended). But if miraculously reincarnated, none of these greats would last a week as pandemic-era prime-ministers. Aristotle would start wars by calling all our neighbours barbarians, Pythagoras would not allow anyone to speak (for the first 10 years), Plato would attempt to become a dictator, Marx would be lost from sight devouring epidemiological information on the Internet, and Zizek would just make everyone crazy. We do not have to worry too much about the cacophony, it will wither out...
In our new post corona world the concept of tourism is changing. With some forms of travel restrictions looking likely to continue for the foreseeable future, and with our instinctive desire to travel and take holidays, community tourism and staycation breaks are set to boom in the months ahead, as people look to more local solutions without the ne...
Since opening Pousada Serra Verde we've been keen to embrace 'green' technologies and principles wherever possible. Other than fitting in with our forest setting a green roof also helps with cooling and extends the life of the roof whilst helping bio-diversity. We have just built an external breakfast area to replace the ageing 'tent' (...
Will Covid-19 (or SARS-2) have lasting effects? Is Ecotourism & Green Hospitality sheltered? Here are some initial thoughts (working draft): 1. Despite the hype of covid-19 webinars and the emerging adaptation cottage industry, It is likely that the pandemic will only have short-term effects, especially if there is not a second wave in Autumn 2020. 2. Most changes will be rolled back as soon as the cure has been found. It is not realistic to eat or to get a sun tan in plastic see-through cubicles. To wrap all foods in ecocidal plastic wrapping paper and packaging. Or to remove airconditioning units and halve bed capacity. Nor is it economic or ecological for a plane or a tour bus to travel half empty. The only lasting changes will be related to more meticulous room cleaning procedures (such as these) on the part of hosts, and personal precautions and hygiene routines on the part of guests. Masks, for example, may become a regular sight in crowded (hello anti-[over]tourists, where have you been lately?) tourism spots, as they have been in Asia following SARS-1. 3. Green hospitality is better positioned because of its small size, marketing flexibility and low overheads. 4. The sharing...
