India organized Tourism Ministers’ Meeting to discuss effective means to promote tourism cooperation among the BRICS countries on the 13th of this month. The meeting reviewed the cooperation in the tourism sector among the BRICS nations. A significant aspect of this meeting was the adoption of the Ministers’ Communique, an outcome document on cooperation and promotion of tourism between these countries. The Ministers’ Communique also recognized that the COVID-19 pandemic has severely endangered public health and has presented severe challenges to the implementation of UN sustainable development goals.
The Indian Tourism Minister stressed on the importance of co-operation among the member States and to have a good understanding of each other’s tourism products. Thus offerings encouragement towards further growth of international tourism between the BRICS member countries. He also mentioned that the common tourism products in BRICS countries such as heritage & culture tourism, nature, wildlife, eco tourism etc.,create avenues for greater cooperation and exchange of information and best practices.
Emphasis was also placed on the recognition of green tourism goals within the BRICS alliance to promote faster recovery of the sector with sustainability in mind. Some of the key parts of the BRICS alliance towards green tourism are mainstreaming sustainability while formulating the tourism policies, conservation efforts, sustainable development goals and to shift towards renewable source of energy. Conservation efforts towards green tourism will encourage investment in nature based solutions and technologies to support the fragile eco systems.
The discussion also touched strengthening cooperation in tourism in promotion of responsible and sustainable tourism, investment in tourism related infrastructure and a close interaction between tourism enterprises and human resource development. The Ministers also resolved to work together to realize the full potential of BRICS countries through cooperation, specially in the tourism sector.
