Page 36 - IJES Special Issues for AIEC2016

26 © Batta 2016 | SMEs and Sustainable Tourism

Table 5

Willingness of SMEs to adopt Environmental Management Programs

Trained staff on environmental Hotels small medium Travel Transport Adventure
management 0 12 Agencies Operators Travel
Willingness to pay for environmental bud. 0 0 0
management at the destination 0 34 56 41 12 78
Willingness to adopt environmental 90 23 98
protection practices 7 63 89

45

As is clear from the above, in terms of environ- tice nor are they willing to pay or adopt new
mental management practices, the position of practices. How these individuals could be
SMEs in Manali is very bad. Not a single motivated is an opportunity for further study, as
enterprise in the budget and small hotels they happen to be the major polluters of air
category has its own environmental policy, and quality in Himachal Pradesh (Batta, 2008).
among the medium ones, only 2 percent have When asked about the mode of implementation
such a policy. Only 10 percent of the medium of the environmental management programs,
hotels have staff dedicated for environmental most people felt that there should be a
management, while 26 percent of the adventure dedicated agency to coordinate and oversee the
travel agencies have such staff in position. None implementation of the programs and that there
has any captive incinerator, and none is should be regular workshops and training
recycling waste generated by them. Only 21 sessions to educate the enterprises and their
percent of medium hotels have installed energy staff.
saving devices. However, their position in terms
of water harvesting is better in view of the 4.3 Social
shortage of water during the summers, which is
the peak tourist season. Solar energy devices Transportation problems are the main issue in
are also becoming popular as a result of the rise the social agenda. Traffic problems have been
in electricity tariffs every year. aggravated due to factors like mixed traffic
patterns, incorrect utilization of urban infra-
However, their position with regard to contri- structure, and distorted distribution of land use
buting to environmental management is satis- in addition to tremendous tourist traffic. The
factory. The best response comes from improper geometric design of roads, poor
adventure tour operators where 78 percent of surface conditions, constraints of parking, and
enterprises are willing to contribute. This is so abutting encroachment have reduced the
since most of the adventure travel agencies get capacity of travel speed substantially (Redecon,
their business from foreign clients among 2005). The level of service has virtually come to
whom environmental consciousness is very a stop-and-go condition, resulting in increased
high. The response in the hotel SMEs is not very travel times, fuel costs, and vehicular emissions.
encouraging. None of the medium hotels are The negligible public transport system and
willing to contribute to environmental protect- informal road network system have promoted
tion. Likewise, in terms of willingness to adopt intermediate public transport systems (auto-
better environmental practices, the position of rikshaws and taxis) and personalized transport
adventure travel agencies is much better modes.
compared to hotels.
In terms of the health and safety of the local
In terms of environmental concerns, the worst community, problems are really serious. Manali
placed are the tour operators. They are neither experiences one of the worst problems of
following any environmental management prac- crowding and congestion during the peak

Science Target Inc. www.sciencetarget.com