Development of sustainable tourism is being supported by the Meaningful Tourism Centre (MTC) and the Institute of Tourism (IoT), which will begin a series of free online lectures from December 8.
The programme, titled Meaningful Tourism as a Tool to Develop Sustainable Tourism in South Asia, requires pre-registration on IoT’s website. Recorded lectures will be available on the IoT website.
MTC executive director Wolfgang Arlt said the lectures provide stakeholders with insight on how to achieve objective benefits and subjective satisfaction from tourism and hospitality activities.
Arlt explained: “The six main stakeholders identified in the Meaningful Tourism approach are: travellers, host communities, employees in service-providing companies, service-providing companies, governments and the environment; and smart KPIs are used to measure the improvement of benefits and satisfaction on a regular base.”
He continued: “With a Meaningful Tourism approach, destinations will be able to benefit from the increasing interest of activities beyond sightseeing and recreation without falling into the traps of overtourism and environmental damage, making sure that local communities and employees get their fair share in alignment with the interests of companies and governments.”
Participants will also learn about carbon credit trading, with speakers including an MTC certified trainer and a local expert.
The lecture on December 8 will focus on North-east India, followed by North India on December 9, Nepal on December 11 and Bangladesh on December 12. Three further lectures on December 15, 22 and 29 will provide more detailed information tailored to South Asia and how to build a sustainable and profitable future.
Arlt noted that India, Nepal and Bangladesh together house more than 20 per cent of the global population, but jointly received only one per cent of global international tourism arrivals in 2024.
The objective of MTC and IoT, he said, is to help grow the tourism industry in South Asia without repeating the overtourism and environmental or cultural damage experienced by other Asian destinations.
Lectures for other parts of Asia will be scheduled in January 2026, with Oceania following in March.
