World Green Tourism conference in Abu Dhabi

First ever event of the nature and scale, Abu Dhabi witnessed the gathering of global experts at the World Green Tourism conference on 22-24th November 2010. United Arab Emirates isn’t the place that many would relate to any thing ‘green’ or ‘sustainable’ considering the opulence and wealth that the region has witnessed.

“Considering the fact that the Emirates subsidises 50-80%of its consumers electricity bills as of now, the reasoning for a green tourism business isn’t much a financial incentive for the hospitality industry. “ says young Jad Frangieh who is the green champion at One to One boutique hotel in Abu Dhabi. On a site visit to the property, he was particularly keen on explaining that “we are not a Green hotel. However, we have decided to join the Green Hotels initiative of Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority and implement sustainable practices in our properties. It’s high time we that we all wake up and realise that maintaining a green patch of grass in a desert isn’t green and that is in fact the anti-thesis of anything green. We are glad that this conference brought in many innovators and entrepreneurs and practitioners of sustainable tourism”.

Abu Dhabi's electricity rates of 15 fils per kilowatt-hour (kwh) for expatriates and 5 fils for Emiratis are among the lowest in the world. Subash V Puthenveetil, Hygiene and Safety Mangaer from Anantara said,“We are all aware of the fact, there is so much to do in this region when it comes to sustainability. Our management is keen on being the leaders in this segment and we are ready to go with Abu Dhabi tourism in this direction”.

The conference saw experience sharing from regions as varied as Sweden, Thailand, India, Ireland, UK and UAE. Some of the speakers included, Prof. Harold Goodwin from ICRT, Mary Mulvey from Green Box in Ireland, Mansoor Mohamed from City of Cape Town, Arnfinn Oines from Six Senses Resorts and Spas in Thailand. Key note speakers included Bruce Poon Tip of Gap Adventures, Newyork Times Journalist and Author Elizabeth Becker and George Hickton, former CEO of Tourism New Zealand.

Mubarak Hamad Al Muhairi, Director General of ADTA is keen to take the sustainability initiative to a new level. ‘We have launched the pioneering Green Hotels programme, and also have initiated the Environment, Health and Safety Management System covering the entire tourism sector. We have made only small steps, but we are certainly keen on learning from other destinations to become a globally recognized, sustainable tourism destination.’

Organisers have already announced the dates for next GreenTourism conference on 5-7 December 20100 at ADNEC in Abu Dhabi. Prof. Harold Goodwin, Director of International Centre for Responsible Tourism and one of the speakers at the conference said, “For once we are seeing a serious government backed intervention to make the industry more sustainable.”

The Blue Yonder presented two case studies on its experience of working in India in a round table on Green Tourism for Hotels and tour operators as as well as in a session "conversations with industry experts:operating with a commitment to sustainability in the tourism industry.

For more details check World Green Tourism conference site

Dilli mein sub chaltha hein!

It’s not that every day in your life that a cab driver would ask you to drive the car while he enjoys his can of Kingfisher beer! The night before yesterday, I ended up driving a cab in the rain from Karolbagh to Delhi Cantonment. It was not just the trust the driver showed in me, but the ease in which I took charge of the car for an hour-long journey that surprised me the most. Spiced with stories of the young man who introduced himself as Amit, I drove through streets of Delhi, scared of being hit by vehicles and pedestrians and cows from all sides.



We had noticed that Amit was quite a special person when we went to Gopinath bazaar looking for a taxi that will ‘ferry us’ through the water-logged roads to Karol Bagh. When rest of the taxi drivers refused to come, Amit volunteered and ‘fixed’ 400 Rs for the return trip and while starting the cab made a statement;”can’t stand those guys who don’t take their duty seriously’. As we were busy with some discussions, we didn’t give much thought to his statements.



However with the steering wheel in hand, I had not much option than to hear out Amit. He showed me photographs of his wife, daughters, younger brother and shared with him his journey from being a martial artist, to a dancer and to being a driver. While sharing all this, he kept on giving me directions and couple of times even ‘corrected’ my driving style suggesting that I am driving like a ‘phoren’ person and probably too sophisticated for Delhi roads. Great.! All I was doing was to recheck that I was not driving on a one-way in opposite direction. Of course I was and he said, “Saab, ye Dilli hein, idhar sab chaltha hein”. Considering that there were policemen and traffic wardens present who didn't care about what we were doing, I had to believe what he told me. That, “this is Delhi and everything is alright here”.



If I had an option I would have drove around the whole night just to hear the stories and experiences of life that Amit was sharing with me. From the 18 girlfriends he had while being an instructor to them at driving schools, to the responsibility he finally took to look after his family, and his ability to speak 12 languages, ( at least he could speak smattering English, Tamil, Hindi, Marathi, Malayalam, Kannada and Telugu!), the stories seem to have come straight from his heart. There was no other way than to believe him, as it didn’t come across to me as a lie, or something he was trying to show to impress me. In any case I have no clue how he was trying to impress me by asking me to drive his taxi while he was enjoying his beer! How can I not mention that he was also a dancer at the Woogie Boogie?!



Once we were out of the maddening traffic, he commented that I am a ‘good driver’ ( he seems to have forgotten already how much I was struggling while he was ‘sheperding’ me through the traffic by moving inch by inch to ‘occupy’ any advantage we could get over others on the road!). The best part of the drive was when he asked me ‘How the ‘gaadi’ was?’. It was actually a good vehicle, and when I said I was enjoying driving it, he said, “99 ka hein! CNG, Mein bahuth pyar se chalatha hum!”. It was obvious that he was driving it with 'care and love'.



If everyone would do their job as passionately as Amit ( and of course, not handover the taxi for driving to their customers) and engage their guests with real life or spicy stories like this, I guess even a crowded Delhi traffic pass like a cool breeze! My only regret of this adventure is that I couldn’t get a photograph of Amit and his car!



May be this is the local interpreter The Blue Yonder has been looking for in Delhi!

Pomze

Pomze is a boutique restaurant on Boulevard Haussmann in Paris. As the name says, it's all about Apples! From organic apples and different varieties of fine apple juices and ciders available, the place is an excellent meeting place as well.

The taste of Shrimps in curried green apple sauce and the crepe as dessert is still lingering on. As the waiter commented about our selection from menu, it was simply 'Magnifique'!

Bangalore GP © 2008

Steering a tricky course

"As rapid development threatens to dent Kerala's reputation as an eco haven, Kevin Rushby meets the greens fighting to preserve the traditional way of life" The Guardian, Saturday January 12 2008.

Fragrant Nature, Marari Beach Resort, Friday's Place, Ayurveda Mana and The Blue Yonder is mentioned. One or two facts are misplaced, and the there are no direct links to our website anywhere. But when the article is covered in a website that is ranked in the top 700, and is one amongst the most read online news papers in the world, you don't complain much.

Full article is here

Bangalore © GP 2008