KOCHI: As steps are being taken to develop tourism in Lakshadweep on the lines of Maldives, Jose Dominic, the pioneer of sustainable and responsible tourism who ran his resort on Bangaram, a tiny teardrop-shaped island near Agatti and Kavaratti for 20 years from 1988, warns the proposed model will spell an ecological and social disaster in the fragile and beautiful islands.
When the Casino Group of Hotels (now CGH Earth) won the bid to run its resort at Bangaram on a 25-year lease, to be renewed every five years (it ended after 20 years), Dominic said it was the beginning of a new concept of tourism that was not very popular then. One which focuses on retaining nature at its original self without compromising on the quality of service — the sustainable eco-tourism model.
The rules stipulated that Bangaram should not have a carrying capacity of more than 100 people at a time — 60 people for its 30 rooms and 40 support staff. What CGH Earth did then was revolutionary in the industry, which considers ‘luxury’ as ‘opulence of built space’ offering a range of services.“We went a step further to decide that our resort will be as close to nature as possible and will not offer facilities such as AC, swimming pools, room service, telephone and television. We even told our guests to remove their watches and enjoy passing time, watching sunsets,” said Dominic.
“We didn’t even use LPG for cooking. We used coconut debris and firewood, which gave a unique taste to our cuisines. We also bought fish from the local community,” Dominic said.Audaciously, the group priced its rooms on par with the five-star Oberoi Hotels in Mumbai. By the end of its term, the group was charging $400/night for a standard room, and $750/night for deluxe rooms. “The Oberoi group used to charge $180/day. In 1986, international tourists would land in Mumbai via Frankfurt, stay overnight at the Oberoi, before flying down to Kochi and take a ship or flight to Agatti. We felt if the guests could stay in Mumbai and fly down to Kochi to reach Bangaram, they could very well pay the same rate,” he said.
The risk paid off. Some of the high-profile clients at Bangaram resort include Hollywood star Richard Gere, A B Vajpayee, Sonia Gandhi, and a legion of Bollywood stars.Dominic said the Kochi-based hotel changed its ethos too to an eco-sensitive group and changed its brand to CGH Earth to reflect its new priorities viz. clean, green and healthy, realising the importance of preserving nature and the eco-sensitive model, mastered from the Bangaram experience.
“The Maldives is hardly a model to be emulated. They have so many islands uninhabited there that they can follow the ‘Slash and Burn’ practice,” Dominic said.“Travellers come all the way to Lakshadweep to experience its natural beauty. For the habitant, Disney World-like water villas may be a spectacular experience. But for all else, it’s paradise lost. To build water villas in a natural lagoon is aesthetically and environmentally a disastrous step,” he added.