TTT NEWS NETWORK
KOLKATA, 27 SEPTEMBER 2023:
Kanthalloor village panchayath in Kerala’s Idukki district, where the sustainable and inclusive STREET tourism project of the StateResponsible Tourism Mission was successfully implemented, has been bestowedwiththe ‘Gold’ award by the Government of India in the category of Best Rural TourismProjects.
Kerala Tourism Director Shri P B Nooh received the award from the Secretary, Ministryof Tourism, India Smt. V Vidyavathi at a ceremony held today at Bharat MandapaminNew Delhi on the occasion of World Tourism Day.
Kerala Responsible Tourism Mission (RTM) Coordinator and state Rural TourismNodal Officer Shri K RupeshKumar and Kanthalloor Village Panchayat President Shri PTMohandas were also present to receive the honour.
STREET, which stands for “Sustainable, Tangible, Responsible, Experiential, Ethnic, Tourism”, is implemented in selected places across Kerala, based on UNWTO’s theme‘Tourism for Inclusive Growth’.
Kanthalloor was selected for the honour after an eight-month-long extensive evaluationof rural village projects in the length and breadth of the country. In all 767 projectsfrom around the country vied for honours, and, five of them won ‘Gold’, 10 were selectedfor‘Silver’ and 20 for ‘Bronze.’
“This honour is a huge endorsement for Kerala’s sustainable and responsible tourisminitiatives led by the Responsible Tourism Mission,” Kerala Tourism Minister , Mr. P.A. Mohamed Riyas said.
It is all the more heartening that this national honour is presented to Kerala onWorld Tourism Day, for which the theme chosen this year by United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) is ‘Tourism and Green Investments’, Mr. Riyas added.
Kerala is a global pioneer in sustainable and inclusive tourism development andKanthalloor is a sterling example of how well tourism should be promoted basedonthese ideals, Tourism Secretary Mr. K Biju said.
After receiving the honour, Mr. P B Nooh recalled that this is the latest in a seriesof international and national awards to be bestowed on Kerala’s RT initiative, whichhasseta globally-appreciated model of tourism development that protects ecology, valuesculture and brings benefits to the local community.
Located close to the famed hill station Munnar in Idukki district, Kanthalloor villagewasfirst brought in the ambit of the participatory tourism initiative ‘PEPPER’ beforemovingonto STREET project, with the active participation of the local community and the village panchayat.
Recalling the phase-by-phase process followed in Kanthalloor, Mr. Rupesh said, tostartwith, dedicated tourism village assemblies were held in all wards of the panchayat todiscuss the schemes to be taken up. This was followed by activities such as resourcemapping, training programmes and formation of MSMEs relating to range of tourism- related businesses and services.
After laying a firm foundation, the RT Mission and the Village Panchayat successfullytook the project forward with clear-cut planning. The entire panchayat was declaredaspart of a ‘tourism circuit’.
Kathalloor has the distinction of being the country’s first panchayat to implement women-friendly tourism, for which several programmes were held in collaboration with UN Women. As part of this the ‘destination security’ scheme was implementedandspecial women tour packages drawn up.
The panchayat also stands as the first rural local body to implement a tourismprojectutilising the plan fund.
Based on the protocol for village and farm tourism, various tourismpackages weredrawn up and implemented in Kanthalloor. Arrangements were made for panchayatlevel registration of vehicles used for tourism activities.
Uniform rates were decided for tour packages and review meetings were held jointly by RT Mission and UN Women. As part of this, ‘safe destination’ scheme was implemented.
‘Green Badges’ were provided to vehicles used for tourism activities.
A range of other activities like proper maintenance of street lights, installationof publicwater vending machines and destination sign boards were done. Collection of wastefrom houses and tourism properties were systematised. Green check posts wereset upto strictly implement ban on plastic material.
Seeking to enhance the rural experience for tourists, various areas were demarcated as green street, vegetable street, fruit street.
All activities were coordinated by an oversight panel with the panchayat president aschairman and RT Mission coordinator as convener.
Advertisement:
Add Comment