A

SUMMER TRAINING REPORT

on

“COVID 19 Pandemic as a boon or bane for ecotourism:

A case study of people perception in Delhi NCR”

Summer internship report in partial fulfillment

Of the requirement for the

MASTER OF SCIENCES

In

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

By

TANISHA BHATIA

(ROLL.NO. 21001754036)

Under the supervision

Of

Ms. Chindu Chandran

Research lead

(Natural Resource Management)

Enviro Vigyan
 CANDIDATE’S DECLARATION

I, Tanisha Bhatia, hereby declare that the intership work entitled, “COVID 19
Pandemic as a boon or bane for ecotourism: A case study of people perception
in Delhi NCR” is an authentic work carried out by me, under the supervision of
Ms. Chindu Chandran, Research lead, Enviro Vigyan for the requirement of
the degree of the Master of Science in Environmental Sciences. The matter
embodied in this summer internship report has not been submitted anywhere else
for the award of any other Degree/ Diploma.

Date: Signature

Place: (Name of the student)

CERTIFICATE
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
First of all, thanks to my parents for giving their assistance to me. Without them I could not be
able to complete my project.

Second, I would like to thank Dr. Renuka Gupta, chairman, Department of Environmental
Sciences, JCBUST, YMCA, Faridabad for always supporting and guiding me.

The internship opportunity I had with Enviro Vigyan was a great chance for learning and
professional development. I am also grateful for having a chance to meet so many wonderful
people and professionals who led me through this internship period. I am using this opportunity
to express my heartfelt and sincere thanks to my supervisor, Ms. Chindu Chandran, research
lead, Enviro Vigyan, who in spite of being extraordinarily busy with her duties, took time out
to hear, guide and keep me on the correct path and providing me an opportunity to complete my
internship. Her precious guidance was extremely valuable for my study both theoretically and
practically. I appreciate her contributions of time, suggestion and ideas to make my work
productive and stimulating.

Besides, I would like to thank Dr. Anchal Garg (founder, Enviro Vigyan) for extending her
friendship towards me and for always guiding and supporting me.

A very deep sense of gratitude and thanks to my teachers Dr. Navish Kataria, Dr. Anita
Girdhar, Dr. Smita and Dr. Somvir Bajar, Assistant professors in Department of
Environmental Sciences, JCBUST, YMCA, Faridabad who always guided and encouraged me
at every step and helped me whenever I needed them.

Sincerely,

Tanisha Bhatia
ABSTRACT
LIST OF CONTENT
LIST OF FIGURES
LIST OF TABLE
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
 CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION
In the 21st century, the biggest problems that world is facing to find the balance between
development and conservation of nature. As ecotourism targets both nature conservation and
poverty reduction, it is increasingly recognized as a chance for sustainable development.

The term sustainable tourism came into action by NGO’s, government bodies, the private sector,
and academia towards the end of twentieth century. Sustainable ecotourism-based urban
development is seen various part of world. In India ,there is a lack of awareness and positive
attitude towards the ecotourism and environment friendly activities. It is also seen that people of
India is not accepting the concept of ecotourism.

Since the Covid-19 pandemic hit India in the mid of March of 2020, it adversely affects the
tourism industry and changes the people travel behaviours and their travel pattern. Therefore, by
walking in nature, ecotourism has become a new type of tour for people.

Depending on the contaminated area and the demographics of the inhabitants, fear of infection
and perceived risk also considerably affect travel patterns, especially for transport use. During
pandemics, people avoid travel to the places , where the outbreak of Covid-19 is worsen.

The results from the earlier research studies might not be immediately applicable because the

COVID-19 pandemic is a worldwide health disaster in comparison to the prior pandemics.

Hence , the aim of present study is to check the people perception about ecotourism and their
changing travel patterns during the COVID-19.

This study is only limited to the people who resides in Delhi and Delhi NCR region.

Survey design and sample: The method used to collect data were in the form of questionnaire
survey using goggle forms. It was prepared in the English language and distributed through
emails, Whatsapp and social media platforms like Instagram, facebook, LinkedIn.

The questionnaire consisted of three sections:

1. Demographic characteristics
2. People perception on ecotourism in Delhi NCR.
3. Travel behaviour and pattern

Scope of this study: It will create the awareness about ecotourism among the residents of Delhi-
NCR. It will check the people choice of mode for traveling, their travelling frequency before and
during the pandemic, their preferred locations to travel and whom they want to travel with.

Considering all these, this study was undertaken with following objectives:

1. To study the people perception on ecotourism in Delhi NCR region.

2. To examine the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on people travel behaviours and
associated impacts on ecotourism.
 Chapter 2: REVIEW OF LITERATURE
2.1 Perception of ecotourism

The term ‘ecotourism’ emerged at the end of the 1980s as a direct outcomes of growing
environmental awareness. The demand for experiences in natural, untouched settings has grown
significantly in recent years, and governments are becoming more aware of the opportunities to
capitalise on this demand, particularly in developing countries.

In other words, ecotourism is a kind of tourism that promotes environmental preservation, social
justice and environmental education as its guiding principles while reducing environmental
degradation as a result of economic development. In order to put these concepts into practice, it
is important to first develop the perception of eco-tourism among the residents both at the urban
and local levels.

The most engaging factor to promote ecotourism is to organise the awareness session, training
programs which can be done by the local bodies, NGOs, schools or university programs and
many other platforms. By doing this activities it will give a clear picture of perception of
ecotourism among the people.

Not just enjoying the leisure activities and relaxation, but most importantly people should
consider nature preservation as their prime motive to be on an eco-friendly trips.

However, concerning about the perception of ecotourism among the urban and rural residents, a
few people know about the ecotourism.

People perception can only be achieved by the social interaction of the community, activities that
involve nature and its beauty, interaction with service staff and other acquiring information.

2.2 Background on COVID-19

Although coronaviruses were first discovered in the world in the 1930s and in humans in
1960s.

In December 2019, Wuhan, China saw the emergence of the first confirmed cases. The
epidemic quickly spread around the globe despite the attempts of the local authorities to
contain it. Since then the virus spread rapidly worldwide. The first international case of
COVID-19 was reported in Thailand on 13 january 2020.

2.3 Scenario in India and its response to the pandemic

De Vos (2020) outlined the potential implication of the current social distancing
norms on daily travel patterns and suggested that travel demand is likely to reduce
and so is the use of public transportation ( De Vos, 2020).

The two basic motive implemented by the government and municipal were to
limit the movement of people and encourage social isolation.

The study has also looked into the variances in travel behaviour among various
socio- demographic groups.

During this situation, public transports were most affected as compared to private
vehicles as there were very less number of people who were travelling during the
pandemic.

The COVID-19 epidemic may have long lasting repercussions on how people
interact and travel because of this drastic change in people’s routine. The
amendments made for social distancing could have severe consequences. People
are likely to attempt to avoid using public transportation and reduce their travel.
There is the huge drop in the sharing of vehicles instead people prefer walking
and private cycling.