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Magazine
TOURISM
Boom time in the Andamans
ANANTH KRISHNAN
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Eco-sensitive tourism is the need of the hour in the Andaman and Nicobar islands.
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White sands, palm trees, breathtakingly blue waters and coral reefs, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands have got it all.
Photos: Ananth Krishnan
Great Natural beauty: The growth of tourism has not kept pace with infrastructure development.
“Tourism is booming; business hasn’t been this good in a while,” says the manager of a luxury resort on an absolutely perfect day in Port Blair. White sands, palm trees, breathtakingly blue waters and coral reefs, the Andaman and Nicobar Islands have got it all. Tourism in the Indian Ocean islands took a big hit after the tsunami in 2004, but signs are that tourists are once again flocking back to the islands.
Airlines and hotels are looking to cash in. There are about 14 different flight services out of Port Blair, and hotel developers are increasingly turning to the Islands to set up leisure resorts. Industries and the Government suggest that this drive for tourism will ultimately bring economic benefits and accelerate development in the Islands. But the locals aren’t convinced.
Unsustainable
“The Islanders are being thrown to the sharks,” says one. Some say that tourism has brought inflation that the Islanders cannot afford, while others wonder whether the Islands’ infrastructure is adequate to cope with the burgeoning traffic from the mainland. Ecologists also say that the development of tourism is being carried out in an unsustainable manner, with adverse effects on the ecological balance of the Islands.
In 2005, the Andamans received only around 30,000 tourists as a result of the tsunami the previous year. Since then, traffic has been rapidly increasing. The Islands now receive around 1,00,000 visitors on average ever year.
“The Islands are poised to become one of the favourite tourist destinations in the country,” says V.K. Misra of the Directorate of Information, Publicity and Tourism in Port Blair. “The Government is selling the Islands as an eco-friendly tourist destination and also for their great historical value.” In an effort to encourage domestic tourism in the Islands, the Government offers Leave Travel Concessions (LTC) for government servants who visit the Islands, covering the costs of their air fares.
Growth of traffic has only been possible because of the increased connectivity between Port Blair and the mainland. As many as five major airlines have daily connections to Port Blair from Chennai and Kolkata, and fares that were once in excess of Rs. 15,000 are now available for half the cost.
“There is no question that there is considerable demand in this sector,” says V. Raja, Global Sales Head, Kingfisher Airlines. “Once accessibility increases, there will be huge growth in this market. People in the mainland need to know more about what the Islands have to offer. All that is missing is the packaging.”
The airline is in discussions with local resorts to offer package deals, mainly for “high-end” customers. A hotel manager in Port Blair says that the influx of airlines will help the hospitality sector. “We are getting more high value customers, which is just what the hotel industry needs. Everything is much more expensive here, even the bread and butter we serve is from the mainland. Now, bigger players like the Taj group are showing interest in setting up more resorts.”
Govinda Raju, editor of weekly newsmagazine The Light of Andamans, says that the claim that this growth will ultimately bring benefits to the Islands “frustrates” some of the Islanders. “We have not seen any tangible benefits,” he says. “The airlines and hotels are only catering to high-end tourists. There are very few among the 5,00,000 Islanders who can have access to the developments that they are talking about.”
Around 80 per cent of the population comes from the mainland — mainly Tamil Nadu and West Bengal — largely comprising businessmen, traders, government officials and labourers. Raju says that the biggest problem is that the development of infrastructure has not kept pace with the push in tourism. “Development should come side by side with tourism,” he says. “But there is no infrastructure or planning. Prices have been rising and, with the influx of migrants, encroachments have also been increasing on government land with impunity.”
Severe shortage
There is already a severe shortage of resources in the Islands, and the demands of tourism are likely to constrain them further. Power cuts are frequent, and water and land are scarce. Eighty-six per cent of the land mass is protected forest area, and only around four per cent is available for development. The scarcity of land has resulted in a growing trend of hotel developers purchasing agricultural land from farmers.
The water problem is even worse. Samir Acharya, Society for Andaman and Nicobar Ecology (SANE), says that the current water crisis is the worst ever. “We get water once every five days,” he says. “The ration was curtailed to 20 litres per person per day for nearly a month. Even in worse affected areas in Rajasthan or Gujarat, the scale is 60 to 80 litres per day.”
While Acharya concedes that tourism is “essential” for the development of the Islands, he says that it is not being carried out in the right way. “Tourism is the only practical way of balancing our budget,” he says. “But the question is whether it is earning anything for the islands… (Now) It is surviving on tax payers’ money.”
He says that the huge influx of LTC travellers — the largest segment of tourists to the islands — is more a drain on the island’s resources than a source of income. “Tourism, instead of being a boon to the islands, has actually brought a curse,” he says. “The LTC tourists go nowhere, meet no one and spend no money… Their only contribution… is bringing scarcity of water, inter-island boat tickets, Island-mainland ship tickets and air-tickets.”
Acharya says that compared to continental systems, island eco-systems have a very limited capacity to “absorb misuse”.
Given the Islands’ great natural beauty, it is easy to understand why the government and the tourism industry are keen to promote them as a ‘tropical paradise’ for wealthy holiday-makers. But what they should not forget is that for 5,00,000 ordinary people, this paradise is home.
Favoured destination
While the Andaman and Nicobar Islands are famous for their pristine beaches and peaceful lagoons, the government is increasingly trying to promote the Islands as a historical destination.
“Many people are not aware of the historical significance of these Islands,” says V.K. Misra of the Directorate of Information, Publicity and Tourism in Port Blair. “The Islands had a crucial role to play in the freedom struggle.”
Misra is referring to the establishment of the Andamans as a penal colony by the Empire, in the late 19th century. The famous Cellular Jail in Port Blair, with as many as 700 cells, was built in 1906, and much of the sprawling building stands today. The aura of the jail stems from its illustrious occupants — it was British policy to send prominent leaders of the nationalist movement, such as Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, to ‘Kala Pani’, as the dreaded jail came to be known.
Visitors can take a tour of the cells, and a sound and light show, organised in the gardens of the complex on most evenings, is a popular attraction for tourists.
For the not-so-historically-inclined, the Islands offer a range of outdoor adventures. The Government has also been seeking to promote the Islands as an “eco-friendly” destination.
North Bay Island and Jolly Buoy in the Mahatma Gandhi Marine National Park are home to extensive coral reefs. Nature enthusiasts can take a trip on glass-bottomed boats across the reefs — one can even go snorkelling or scuba-diving for an up-close experience of marine life.
Havelock Island, a 50 km ferry-ride from Port Blair, is a favoured destination for its quiet beaches and Scuba-diving opportunities.
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