Without a doubt, the person since 1985 who established and continue to set the direction for Da lima- A Group of Eco- Friendly Holiday Resorts corporate environmental philosophy, policies and programs is its founder Executive chairman/Managing Director Giri Sant B. He is a strong advocate for preservation of heritage and culture of Nepal along being one of the true environmentalist & traditional Architect within the sustainable Tourism Industry.
He is also the founder President of Rural Development Organization (RDO), Nepal since 1991 engaged in order to co-ordinate the various and multi-dimensional efforts to bring about all round sustainable development in the quality of rural life.

Giri Sant B. is also the Tourism Consultant who works and deals with Eco-Tourism development program throughout Nepal. He specializes in Eco-Tourism planning, operations, marketing and traditional architectures. Some of his major works are; "Project-Kurintar, Chitwan, the first project of "Dalima" being the flagship of the Company, founder of Rural DEvelopment Organization (RDO), programme monitoring & evaluation TRYSEM (Training Rural Youth for Self Employment).

This year he has introduced a first Asia Pacific ATF Rewards scheme called "Any Time Food" - a very advanced self reliant marketing strategy for rural development through village Tourism. Currently, he is involved in establishing Sustainable Tourism Development (STD) model projects - mainly focusing on Nepal's rural areas where tourism is the major tool for development. In these STD model projects; the expertise are gathered to come out with solid answers to solve the problem so as to benefit the very grass roots level and help in poverty reduction through skill development, agriculture development, employment generation, health and sanitation improvement and women's empowerment programmes. It also includes programs focusing on youth groups and people considered socially and economically deprived.

Dalima Management
Durbar Marg, Kathmandu, Nepal

Is Nepal living in her 58 cities or is she living in her 3915 villages? Nepal's 87 percent of population is still living in the villages. If Nepal lives in the villages, let's then make entire Nepal itself an ideal Village Resort so that it may serve as a model Tourism to the whole of the country.
We have millions of farmers. In our experience and the experience of the authoritative writer's shows they have nearly 6 months of the year lying idle on their hands. This is a huge economic waste.

We are more than ever convinced that without the village tourism, the population of Nepal's poverty cannot be solved. Millions of Nepal's peasants starve for want of supplementary occupation. Nepal's 70 percent of the population has more than a quarter of their time lying idle. Steadily grown poorer because of this enforced idleness. The problem is how to utilize these millions of hours of the nation without disturbing the rest. Restoration of the village Tourism is the only possible answer. Agriculture does not need revolutionary changes. The Nepali peasant requires a supplementary industry. The most natural is the introduction of Village tourism. The real Nepal, Nepal which we Love and for which we live, is to be found only in the villages which were once the glory and symbol of her ancient culture and civilization. To serve Nepal, therefore, is according to Dalima need to uplift the Villages through Village Tourism.

The principle of eco-tourism is based on the concept of sustainable development, which has been developed to put an end to the dispute over conservation and development. The original significance of sustainable has been any development which brings about sustainable development. The source or "raw material" of the development has to exist forever; In other words, people should not destroy or use of the raw material so that there is no more of it left for later generations to use. In short, the development should not cause a negative impact on its source or raw materials while also bringing about a conservative outcome. It is believed better than the prohibition or limitation of the usage under the former carrying capacity concept.

Today's global economy is very much based on the concept of consumerism. Non-renewable natural resources are being used up with little thought for the future. Mass tourism is famous for the destruction of unspoiled natural environments for short - term profit. Mass tourism usually develops from huge investments in hotels infrastructure and shopping complexes all to make the tourists happy so that they will spend their money. This works to a limited extent, but the huge amounts of capital are invested and often international companies take a high proportion of their profits out of the host country. Problems often develop and after some years the tourists no longer come to that area and another location is opened up, to be later destroyed.

Eco-Tourism on the other hand, takes into consideration; the natural and the cultural environment. Eco-Tourism generally does not need large investment of capital to operate. One concept behind eco-tourism is that whenever possible local products and materials should be used. This can include; local transport, local food, accommodation in local guest houses, natural style resorts, home-stays with local people or camping using existing infrastructure. By spreading small groups of tourists over a wide area, the economic benefits generated often are put directly back to the local community. If eco-tourism is properly run, it can generate profit and can be used as a rural development tool and as a source of funds for village tourism.

In theory, if eco-tourism is implemented properly then everybody wins, the environment, the local communities, tourists and the economy.

Eco-Tourism must involve:
a) People who want to look at and learn about the natural and cultural environment.
b) Total involvement of the local community. Local people should not just be employees but should have     a stake in the company. Local communities must be given a clear role and benefits in eco-tourism     enterprises in order to demonstrate the importance of conservation. Community based eco-tourism is     the ideal.

Dalima Holiday Resort believes that quality eco-tours should be reasonably priced and be run in a sustainable manner with positive benefits for the environment and the local communities.

"The whole essence of Eco-Tourism is Sustainable use of Natural Resources for the Future"

As with other operations in the group, an integral motivation is for Dalima Holiday Resort to reinforce conservation ethics and bring benefits to local communities in as many ways as is practically possible. Dalima considers this the duty of responsible tourism operators in remote areas.

A major means of achieving this is by employment. Our policy is to recruit and train as many staff as possible from local villages, aiming to reach resort levels of 90 % indigenous people. This is mainly due to skilled staff not being available in the rural area although several have been recruited and are undergoing naturalist guide, dining room, kitchen and house keeping training at Dalima Resort. Positions such as security guards, gardeners and kitchen staff are already taken by local villagers.

Produce such as poultry, eggs, vegetables, fruits, milk, cheese, butter, honey, curd, country chicken, mutton, fish, flowers etc. are all purchased locally as much as possible. Landscape and interior design concepts were interlinked with the contours of the site and appropriate local themes. Only local materials and traditional techniques are used so as to employ as many villagers as possible and to ensure the buildings blended with the landscape, at the same time attaining modern standards of comfort.

As with other Dalima Resort operations, the resort's shop sells locally produced handicrafts, organic food stuffs etc. Dalima Resorts provides the opportunity to perform cultural programme at the resort premises time to time to preserve and retain the traditional culture and heritage. Cultural shows also has become a good source of income for villagers as they are paid in cash.

Environmental degradation, extinction of habitats, de manifestation of culture, loss of values and evolution of mono cultures are some of the critical areas facing the tourism industry; nevertheless, it could be a reality! We may convert the Garden of Eden into a commercial waste land. Yet, our industry is heading towards a five fold increase in size and volume by the turn of this century. Responsible people from various walks of life including intellectuals, eminent academicians, senior bureaucrats, knowledgeable environmentalists and professionals of our industry are therefore concerned and stress the dire need to arrest degradation and decay. On approaching the problem they are lost in myriads of buzzwords like eco-tourism, alternative tourism, responsible tourism, adventure tourism and green tourism etc. The solution to undo the mass of confusion is never easy; yet too simple. Therefore, it becomes necessary to define a pragmatic approach and evolve a policy to implement and manage activities which leads to a sustainable tourism industry in our land, which in its natural and cultural habitats is perhaps the most unprecedented experience.


Giri Sant B.
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Executive Chairman / Managing Director
Dalima Caterers & Resorts (Pte.) Ltd.