Views and Interviews

Looking at a holistic and sustainable approach

Regenerative Tourism is a way of traveling where tourists leave a destination in a better condition than when they found it. This helps avoid the ‘tragedy of commons’ where a public resource gets depleted by users due to decisions made to cater to their personal needs, regardless of the negative impact it has on the overall ecosystem. Hence, it’s imperative to take a holistic and sustainable approach and work with various stakeholders to restore the damage.

How hosts within local communities can help

Stakeholders in any destination would be the local communities, travelers, the local government, as well as stay providers like Club Mahindra. If every stakeholder works constructively and collectively towards regeneration, it is possible to leave a better world for future generations.

He insisted that the local communities create and stage experiences that lead to sustainable livelihoods as well as contribute towards the decongestion of popular locations. He also emphasized creating hosts within these local communities who could take responsibility and lead these experiences; thereby creating a sustainable ecosystem.

What gets measured, gets done

There is also an equally important aspect to Regenerative & Sustainable Tourism – certification! Mr. Singh believes that what gets measured gets done. In fact, eight of Club Mahindra resorts are green-certified with IGBC-CII Platinum rating and the organization aims to get all its resorts certified by 2025.

Additionally, SBTi – science-based targets initiative - is very powerful. The three emissions – Scope1, Scope2, and Scope3 must be embraced by all state providers. Club Mahindra is already on track to reduce 88% of its greenhouse gas emissions by 2031.

Working towards Net Zero

“We have embarked on a new journey that can support regenerative tourism - which is declaring ourselves as “Net Zero”. Not just Net Zero on energy, but energy, water, and waste” – Mr. Kavinder Singh, MD & CEO, Mahindra Holidays & Resorts India Limited.

Furthermore, Club Mahindra is working towards enhancing biodiversity, particularly in locations where the resorts are located. At many of our locations, there are more birds and plant species after the resort has been set up, which is encouraging.

New ways to fund these initiatives

Mr. Singh who has also chaired the India Business Biodiversity Initiative – IBBI, is extremely passionate about sustainability and talks about funding for the common effluent treatment plants and waste-to-energy projects. He feels a nominal sustainable development fee could be charged to the travelers as well as stay providers which again could be managed by the local community as well as various other stakeholders.

Mr. Singh emphasized measuring the carbon footprint. He quoted it as a critical aspect because it would change the behavior of the travelers once they see the community doing its bit, and the state providers doing theirs. At Club Mahindra, the team is starting to give green points to the people who come to the resorts. This will give the travelers a chance to earn more green points as they stay in green resorts, helping them measure their carbon footprint.

In his concluding remarks, Mr. Singh summarized Regenerative & Sustainable Tourism into 4Cs – communities, commitment, a commitment by the traveler, and creating a fund.

*IGBC Platinum rating is awarded for 'Green master planning, policy initiatives and implementation of green infrastructure' by CII's Indian Green Building Council (IGBC)

Club Mahindra Holidays

Video links and images used are courtesy of MHRIL