Tourism Ministry inks MoU for certification of tour operators

NEW DELHI: Tourism Ministry today inked an MoU with Ecotourism Society of India (ESOI) for formulating criteria for certification of accommodation and tour and travel operators within sustainable tourism guidelines.

The ESOI will prepare a 10-year road map for advocacy and certification under the Sustainable Tourism Criteria for India (STCI), an official release said.

The road map will be based on regional workshops held with relevant stakeholders across the country.

"ESOI, through stakeholder consultations, will formulate criteria and classification guidelines for certification for accommodation and tour/travel operators within STCI guidelines and later develop standards for destinations which will also be in sync with internationally accepted Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria," the release said.

Tourism Joint Secretary Suman Billa and ESOI Honorary President Steve Borgia signed the MoU in the presence of Tourism Secretary Vinod Zutshi here.