The Himalayas: Home Of Snow, Sherpas, And A New Mega-Resort?

Posted At : June 28, 2007 9:32 AM
Related Categories: Green

himalayasWhat does Edmund Hillary think? Plans are now well underway for a mega-resort in the nether regions of the Himalayas.

The $350 million project, financed by Alfred Ford, great great grandson of US automobile pioneer Henry Ford, is ambitious as it sounds.

Here's the official word from their website:

Himalayan Ski Village is a proposed eco-friendly mixed-use resort community, providing ski slopes and other mountain sports facilities in the Himalayan region. The Project, developed by Himalayan Ski Village Private Limited involves development of hospitality, vacation homes and entertainment facilities of a world class standard on 115 acres of land in the hilly terrains of the Kullu Valley.

The layout appears to contain all the usual upscale amenities:

The Project involves the development of 700 Hotel rooms, restaurants along with an 'Indian Village' shopping experience; a 20,000 sq ft convention facility and a high end spa; and an entertainment/performing arts center.

And who are they hoping will visit?

The Project targets the domestic tourists of India, as well as international visitors from the U.S., Europe, Japan, Korea, Australia Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

If you're interested in buying in:

The Company expects to commence the presale of chalets and condo hotel rooms by the end of 2007, the first hotel to be opened in 2009 and for full commercial of operations by early 2011.

himalaya2Understandably, there are some environmental and cultural concerns with the mega-project. I'm not an expert on the Himalayan eco-system, but it's likely the resort will have a serious impact on the area, along with everything else that goes into catering towards visitors.

The locals have already staged a protest, stating it's unfair for the government to give land away to a foreign company in the name of development.

I browsed deeper into The Himalayan Ski Village's website to see if I could find how they assuage these environmental and social fears.

Unfortunately, I didn't find much beyond a few nice photographs and some vague jargon:

We see ourselves as a company with an environmental ethos. Part and parcel of our philosophy as an ecologically and socially responsible company in the 21st century is understanding our responsibilities, to the physical landscape, to the communities we are guests in, to our own guests.

Only time will tell if the resort can manage to balance profits with sustainability. If anything, it's a microcosm of the challenge of the 21st century.

Based on my own experiences in Costa Rica, who have a mature eco-tourism sector, I believe it can be done.

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