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It is indeed an occasion of joy and pride as Kerala hosts the Second International Conference on Responsible Tourism in March, 2008 at Kochi. Following the first edition of the conference in 2002 at Cape Town in South Africa, it is just befitting for Kerala to be chosen for the second edition due to its earnest initiatives in the field of responsible tourism, backed by couple of good working models.
The concept and practice of 'Responsible Tourism' has emerged as the key to successful tourism in the future for any destination. Utilization of resources and practices involving the local community are leading to healthier business culture and also ensuring rewarding experiences to stake holders.
It is true that the factors governing successful implementation of the principles of 'Responsible Tourism' depend on the community in an area, the government machinery, policies in place, cultural and traditional practices, geographical settings and the very environment and resources that help in sustaining the activities in and around a destination.
Since the Cape Town 2002 declaration on Responsible Tourism, there have been notable initiatives at national and local level, which further accelerated the objectives of responsible tourism. In Kerala, last year, we kicked off with a state level workshop named ?Better Together? with valuable inputs from pioneers of Responsible Tourism like Prof. Harold Goodwin. It was attended by government departments, social organizations, academics, media and members of the State Legislature. A State Level RT Committee (SLRTC) is in place now, which selected Kovalam, Kumarakom, Thekkady and Wayanad for the initial level implementation of the programme. Further destination level committees have been formed to implement responsible tourism at the local level.
Further to the formation of SLRTC, our initial assessment of the scenario in the selected destinations revealed that the procurement of vegetables and groceries by hotels and resorts at the local level was literally nil. Following this by joining hands with the Local-Self-Government bodies like the Panchayat, we were able to resolve the situation. Women's self-help-groups like Kudumbasree came forward to take up the challenge. The members of Kudumbasree were given proper orientation through a series of workshops. This was followed by sessions with the stakeholders, who eventually got convinced about the quality of the products that they could buy at the local level, rather than procuring them from other states at a higher price. The official launch of this programme under the banner ?Better Together? is expected to take place in March 2008 at Kumarakom.
The upcoming second international conference in Kochi on responsible tourism, I believe, would come up with concrete actions, based on assessments, studies and sharing of experiences at places where the cardinal principles of responsible tourism had been successfully worked out in the past. Awareness with regard to the developments that have taken place so far in the field of responsible tourism and to get inspired from the achievements during the past five years would be of significance for responsible tourism to flourish in other destinations. I look forward to the upcoming conference with the hope that, it would become an important global initiative to help the tourism industry.
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Kodiyeri Balakrishnan
Minister for Tourism
Government of Kerala
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