Tourism and Sustainable Development: Ellora Caves & Varkala Beach

This report, prepared for a tourism and sustainability assessment, offers a comparative analysis of two tourist destinations: Ellora Caves, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and Varkala Beach in Kerala, India. The report examines the strategies and implementation of sustainable tourism practices at both locations, evaluating the effectiveness of public policies and regulations. It discusses the Archeological Survey of India's role in protecting Ellora Caves and the government's investment in Varkala Beach's infrastructure. The report explores the policies and procedures in place, including the impact of volunteer management at Ellora Caves and the eco-tourism vision for Varkala. It highlights public-private partnerships and eco-friendly initiatives. Finally, the report provides recommendations for improving operating performance and ensuring long-term sustainability, emphasizing the importance of timing and adaptability in policy implementation. The report also includes a bibliography of relevant sources.

Running head: TOURISM
Tourism and Sustainable Development
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author Note:

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Table of Contents
Ellora Caves.....................................................................................................................................2
Strategy and Implementation...........................................................................................................2
Policies and Procedures...................................................................................................................3
Varkala Beach..................................................................................................................................3
Strategy and Implementation...........................................................................................................3
Public policies and regulations for Varkala Beach..........................................................................4
Recommendations............................................................................................................................5
Bibliography:...................................................................................................................................6

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Ellora Caves
The Ellora is of the most visited tourist destinations in India which are extremely
connected to the heritage of the country. It features on the UNESCO World Heritage site list as
well. The public policies and regulations of the government do not contribute sufficiently
towards sustainability of the Ellora caves in spite of its importance on the tourism map of India.
The public policies in the state regarding tourism has changed much regarding the sustaining the
tourist destinations and sustenance of tourism in the state of Maharashtra.
Strategy and Implementation
The Archeological Survey of India is responsible for protecting the heritage sites. Thus,
in other words the condition of the Ellora Caves and its surrounding areas actually show lack of
actual enforcement of the public policies and regulations from the government towards
sustenance of the caves. Sustainability in tourist destinations can be implemented by gaining the
support of the local people and business firms in implementing these strategies. For example, the
in order to preserve the environment of the Ellora Caves, the Government of Maharashtra can
gain participation of the people and the companies residing in and around Mumbai, which is the
commercial hub of India. Sustainable tourism provides several economic developmental
opportunities to the local communities, the state government, and the central government as well.
This is applicable for the Ellora caves as the government of Maharashtra maintains the Ellora
caves and the surrounding region in ways to prevent pollution and haphazard cropping of hotels,
the area would be healthier and attract more tourists.

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Policies and Procedures
The destination has experienced certain positive changes. For example, there were times
when the tourists used to push one another to get into the caves but the situation has changed
owing to the enforcement of policies at the Ellora. The tourists are made to move in and out of
the caves by volunteers from the local authorities. This shows that public policies and regulations
do play a very important role in ensuring sustainability of the tourist destinations. However, the
lack of enforcement of the public policies towards sustainability of the Ellora caves in respect of
the management of the commercial activities in the area cannot be refuted totally.
Varkala Beach
The Varkala Beach is a cliff beach that is situated in the Varkala town of
Thiruvananthapuram District of Kerala. The beach which skirts the Arabian Sea is one of the
very fine sea beaches located at the western coast of the country. The uniqueness of the beach is
its location close to the cliffs and the sedimentary formation where different kinds of water
spouts and natural spas are seen to occur just on the side of these cliffs. The beach located just 45
minutes away from Trivandrum acts as the best alternative against the commercialized crowding
in Kovalam Beach. The presence of different kinds of adventure and other leisure activities in the
beach makes it more attractive to the tourists.
Strategy and Implementation
The major reason for the development and growth of the tourism sector in the last few
years for Kerala had been the investment of the government and the private sectors in the

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development of the urban infrastructure. The development and growth of the urban infrastructure
has been the major reason behind the development of the coastal state and the increase in the
tourism revenue. Some of the major factors that have played a positive role in the development
of the tourism revenue and the development of the organization includes the likes of the
promotion and aggressive marketing strategies of the organization including the likes of the
development of a tourism logo, development of a tourism planning and most importantly the
development of a sustainable tourism planning. The presentation of a sustainable tourism
planning can be linked to the development of the tourism sector as a centralized industry for
attaining success and gaining profit. The master plan for the development of the Varkala region
prepared by the Government of Kerala has a strong mission and vision that is capable of
addressing the different needs of the tourism. The vision of the plan is to develop Varkala as one
of the most preferred destination for eco-tourism. This will be done with the integration of the
local community in the plan. Such a plan can help the local community to improve their way of
living and also provide more employment opportunity for the locals. On the other hand, the
mission of the team is to attract more and more investment that can support the growth and
development policies within Varkala.
Public policies and regulations for Varkala Beach
The policies and guidelines needs to be implemented in a proper and efficient manner to
ensure the implementation of the different goals and mission of the organization in the most
effective manner. The Master Plan that will be created by the Government of Kerala has to take
into consideration a number of different policies and regulations that is quite important for
business success. Some of the major areas that needs to be integrated are as follows;

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a. Integration of the public and private partnerships can help to ensure the creation of better
policies
b. Making Varkala an eco-friendly zone that can attract huge number of tourists
c. An eco-friendly zone can ensure less environmental degradation as well as ensure large
number of opportunities for the local people and the local industries
d. Promotion of responsible and safe tourism practices
Recommendations
The above mentioned tourism options and the different idea of planning sustainable
tourism management have provided a simple idea on the proper planning, management,
organizing and implementation of the different business plans. However, the remaining flaws
like proper implementation of the plan must be addressed properly to ensure success. Some of
the recommendations in this regards includes;
a. Selection of the best timing to put forward and implement the plan is extremely necessary
to ensure a sustainable tourism
b. The policies and procedures must be structured leaving the necessary scope for future
amendments
e.

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Bibliography:
Andersen, I. M. V., Blichfeldt, B. S., & Liburd, J. J. (2018). Sustainability in coastal tourism
development: an example from Denmark. Current Issues in Tourism, 21(12), 1329-1336.
da Costa Cristiano, S., Rockett, G. C., Portz, L. C., & de Souza Filho, J. R. (2020). Beach
landscape management as a sustainable tourism resource in Fernando de Noronha Island
(Brazil). Marine pollution bulletin, 150, 110621.
López-Dóriga, U., Jiménez, J. A., Valdemoro, H. I., & Nicholls, R. J. (2019). Impact of sea-level
rise on the tourist-carrying capacity of Catalan beaches. Ocean & coastal
management, 170, 40-50.
Saluja, V., & Anand, S. (2017). Land use and land cover change in first proposed national
geopark, Varkala in Kerala, India.
Winter, P. L., Selin, S., Cerveny, L., & Bricker, K. (2020). Outdoor Recreation, Nature-Based
Tourism, and Sustainability. Sustainability, 12(1), 81.