Himachal Pradesh is keen to explore eco-tourism opportunities and is looking to develop destinations for the same. The state forest minister, Rakesh Pathania, presided over a meeting of the forest department to explore the possibilities of eco-tourism and also discussed the development of necessary facilities to promote the state as an eco-tourism destination.

The state intends to promote eco-tourism through the online medium to ensure that they can reach out to the maximum number of people and help create awareness about various forest tourism sites of the state. The forest minister said that tents would also be set up near forest rest houses in remote areas to promote eco-tourism and added that the state would explore possibilities of setting up camping villages and also work towards developing them from a tourism point of view.

The department would also help create opportunities for various activities such as bird watching and trekking at these destinations and through the involvement of the local community would help to strengthen the local economy and make the whole exercise a sustainable one.

Odisha tourism is planning to promote ecotourism after COVID-19. The Forest and Environment department’s wildlife wing has collaborated with Odisha Tourism to train community members so as to open up ecotourism sites in the state. The Odisha government is looking at the future post COVID-19, and looking at ways to make tourism safer during this pandemic.

Already, the tourism department and the Forest and Environment department’s wildlife wing have come together to train managers and community members in 40 ecotourism sites. Among the 40 ecotourism destinations, you have beach resorts, hill stations in tribal areas, forests, and nature camps. Around 600 community members manage 300 rooms in such locations, and this can be very fruitful for tourism in the state.

All ecotourism locations, such as nature camps and others will be well equipped with sanitisation products, and more.