The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : Tourism initiatives to be scrutinised

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Friday, Mar 21, 2008
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Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

Tourism initiatives to be scrutinised

S. Anil Radhakrishnan

At international Responsible Tourism meet

Work in progress at Kovalam to be assessed
‘State can look forward to more support’

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Responsible Tourism initiatives kicked off in the State will come up for international scrutiny and auditing at the four-day second international conference on Responsible Tourism in Destinations to be held in Kochi from Friday.

The work in progress in the prime destinations of Kovalam, Kumarakom, Thekkady and Wayanad, as part of the initiative to make Kerala a responsible tourism destination, will be taken up for discussions, Kerala Tourism Secretary V. Venu, who is also the joint-chairman of the conference, told The Hindu.

The conference, a sequel to the Cape Town conference held in 2002, will enable tourism authorities and stake-holders to closely learn the initiatives and models and also the achievements.

The travel trade can look forward to improving the socio-economic and environmental practices and how to move the agenda forward.

Kerala is the only State in the country to have taken up the initiative at the macro level. It has also succeeded in documenting the activities in an effort to take it to the lowest level.

Dr. Venu said Kerala could also look forward for international consultancy and support as five international organisations, including the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) and the International Trade Centre, are being represented.

The Responsible Tourism initiative had so far been tried at a larger level only in South Africa, he said.

The South African Responsible Tourism initiative will also come up for scrutiny at the conference as four papers would be presented.

As many as 25 countries will be represented in the conference that will discuss how tourism could contribute to local-level economic development and poverty alleviation. The meet will consider how environmental impact could be effectively managed by the industry.

Participation

Nearly 350 delegates, including 100 from abroad, are attending the summit being organised jointly by the Kerala Tourism and the International Centre for Responsible Tourism (ICRT).

Another salient feature is that three representatives from the 36 sites where Endogenous Rural Tourism projects are being implemented with UNDP assistance will attend the conference at Kochi. The 108 delegates will share the positive and negative aspects and their experiences in a session on rural tourism. The conference will conclude with a ‘Kerala Declaration’ on Responsible Tourism.

Dr. Venu said the conference will outline where Responsibe Tourism has reached and what needs to be done.

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