Kerala - Kochi   

Responsible tourism, a Lankan success story

KOCHI: An academic session on Friday in connection with the four-day Second International Conference on Responsible Tourism in Destinations saw how the adoption of responsible-tourism practices changed a Sri Lankan destination, notorious for harassing tourists, into a tourist-friendly one.

Making a presentation on Sri Lanka’s responsible tourism story and achievements, Charmarie Maelge from Responsible Tourism Partnership spoke of how beach boys at a tourist locale used to shout and scream at tourists, chase and harass them.

“Interestingly, not all of them were school dropouts. Their antics forced the tourists to remain inside hotel rooms. It affected the prospects of the local people and the tour operators. A year ago, a pilot project was held at a local hotel to train the boys. They underwent counselling and image building exercises. Now they do not chase the tourists, the tourists chase them,” she said, in a lighter vein.

This transformation brought in more income to the local community. Hotels there are registering good occupancy too and beach boys now enjoy much respect.

Prof. Harold Goodwin of the International Centre for Responsible Tourism, Leeds Metropolitan University, reviewed the progress of responsible tourism since the first conference at Cape Town, South Africa, in 2002.

He said that all stakeholders in the sector and tourists must involve in responsible tourism initiatives and make a difference. The Cape Town Declaration established an agenda for change and challenged stakeholders to work together towards it.

In his presentation on strategies for developing sustainable tourism programmes, Gordon Sillence, executive director of the DestiNet Partnership, called for a holistic approach to tourism. “There has to be a value and control system, apart from a programme of action. These three aspects have to be networked too.”

Elaborating on creating sustainable communities: opportunities for tourism, Stephen Tinsley from the Sustainable Development Research Centre, U.K., spoke of how a green business-zone was created in Sweden. The companies there were interdependent for their energy and waste-disposal needs. They also adopted eco-friendly practices.

Saturday will see the conference focus on global perspectives on the responsible tourism movement, experiences from destinations as well as thematic presentations and interactions on rural tourism.

On Sunday, there will be case studies from Indian destinations, site visits and a session on ‘The Kerala experience’. A proclamation of the Kerala Declaration on Responsible Tourism will be released on Monday.

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