Tourism Certification & the ‘PUG’ Rating
India's wilderness tourism sector has been growing for some years now and as the industry grows more professionals want to utilise their interests by making their operations as profitable/ethical and responsible as possible. Once this interest becomes an area of concern, where maximum impacts are caused to the wilderness destination the time for certification and standardisation comes in place. Tourism certifications are well known to the industry and it is said there are some 700 certification programs worldwide out of which 30 are said to be successful. TOFT introduced PUG and has been agreed by many to be one of the successful programs to exist in India.
'PUG' is an acronym to Practices Under Guidelines that represents a system of green labelling and a footprint of good practices has been designed to examine certain certification criteria that the Indian tourism sector and stakeholders around them will benefit from. PUG focuses on enhancing tourism providers "triple bottom line of economic profitability, respect for the environment in and around and to balance social responsibilities". The PUG approach benefits consumers or visitors, resort managers and owners, host communities and tourism providers themselves.
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BENEFITS OF PRACTICES UNDER GUIDELINES (PUG)
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ENHANCED QUALITY
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PUG focuses on impact management, helping tourism providers to ensure the preservation of destinations and cultures for future generations. This equates to more attractive environments and better products.
PUG provides access to standards recognised as best practices within the travel industry, helping businesses to meet higher standards through continuous improvement.
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IMPROVED PROFITABILITY
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PUG is a systematic approach that lowers costs through resource productivity and waste reduction while positively contributing to environmental conservation and the well being of local people.
PUG assists tourism providers in adding value to local communities' economies, helping them to safeguard the livelihood of local and indigenous people.
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BROADER MARKET APPEAL
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Tourism providers licensed to use the PUG logos demonstrate their commitment and performance to PUG ecological, PUG socio-cultural & PUG economic factors, making them more attractive to responsible tourists. PUG AUDIT PROCESS
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