TTT NEWS NETWORK
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, 23 OCTOBER 2024:
Giving a big boost to its globally-acclaimed Responsible Tourism (RT) initiative, the Kerala Government has approved a raft of projects worth Rs 6.64 crore for implementing various initiatives in different destinations in the state. The projects are aimed at bolstering and diversifying the offerings under the Responsible Tourism initiative during 2024-25, with emphasis on sustainability and inclusiveness.
As per the Government Orders (GOs) issued in this regard, the total amount of Rs 66,499,621 approved by the government for these initiatives include Responsible/ Resilient Tourism project of RT Mission, besides enhancing the facilities and services in the destinations concerned as the main thrust. This includes the government’s earlier approval of Rs 89,81,240 lakh for materializing first phase of RT Mission Society projects in 2024 – 25.
The destinations benefiting from the initiative include RT Mission Society Training Centre at Kumarakom and Beypore Integrated RT Development Project. Of the amount, the Responsible/ Resilient Tourism project of RT Mission will get Rs 1,81,09,000 while approval has been given for Rs 1,15,00,000 for implementing Beypore Integrated RT Development Project.
“The RT initiative is going to be the driver of Kerala Tourism in the future. In 2023, Kanthalloor village in Idukki was recognised by the Govt. of India for its sustainable and inclusive STREET tourism project with the Gold Award for Best Rural Tourism Project. This year, RT projects in Kadalundi and Kumarakom won the National Awards for best Rural Tourism and best Agri-Tourism villages respectively,” Tourism Minister, Mr. P A Mohamed Riyas said. With the expansion of RT Mission’s activities, the footfall of foreign tourists and visitors will go up, imparting a great momentum to the state’s sustainable and experiential tourism model, Mr. Riyas noted.
An amount of Rs one crore has been earmarked for promotion and marketing activities since RT has made significant contributions in marking Kerala as an all-season experiential destination. About Rs 90,99,381 has been approved for materializing second phase of Kerala RT Mission Society 2024-25 projects and for the continuation of Participatory Tourism Development Projects, Rs 50,00,000 will be disbursed.
The destinations where the follow-up of RT projects have been planned are Valiyaparamba, Bedadukka, Dharmadam, Pinarayi, Anjarakandy, Kadalundi, Koodaranji, Kooracundu, Nelyadi, Chekadi, Thirunelli, Nelliyampathi, Thiruvilwamala, Thrithala, Pattithara, Muhamma, Chembu, Kumarakom, Maravanthuruthu, Kanthalloor, Vattavada, Aranmula, Mundrothuruthu, Anchuthengu, Sambranikodi, Panangad, Vellarada, Amboori and Vithura. Moreover, for the training programmes of RT Mission, Rs 38,10,000 has been set aside.
The Training Centre at Kumarakom will organize programmes on integrating digital marketing and artificial intelligence (AI) in tourism sector, besides training for people’s representatives, community tour leaders, promoters of homestays, farm and agri tourism, serviced villa and ethnic cuisine. This allocation will help diversify the RT offerings to tourists to Kerala, besides scaling up the participation of local community in tourism activities, Tourism Secretary Mr. K Biju said.
Kerala Tourism Director Smt. Sikha Surendran said the popularization of globally-recognized RT projects will give a fillip to new initiatives, including those aimed at bringing new destinations and activities on the state’s tourism map. Launched in 2008 in four selected centres to promote sustainable and inclusive tourism initiatives, Responsible Tourism in Kerala has evolved into a massive grass-root level network having 25,188 registered units currently, of which 17632 units are either owned or led by women.
Known as RT Mission initially, the agency that drives the project was reconfigured as Kerala Responsible Tourism Mission Society (KRTMS) in 2023. So far, an approximate 52,344 people have directly and 98,432 people indirectly benefited from its activities, mostly in rural areas. Over 1.5 lakh families are now part of the RT Mission activities which have resonated well with domestic and foreign tourists.
Developing grass root level tourism, linking it with tourism industry, promotion of sustainable and gender inclusive models and generation of jobs and income for local communities are the basic objectives of Kerala RT.
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