Kerala Rolls Out Green Carpet

KERALA TOURISM NEWSLETTER

ISSUE: 277

SEPTEMBER 2016

Kerala Tourism has launched a two-month-long multi-agency participatory campaign titled 'Green Carpet' to make tourist destinations in Kerala ready ahead of the tourist season.

The aggressive campaign involves a ten-point agenda to manage a total of 84 destinations and envisages collective participation involving the local community in destination development, operation and management.

Inaugurating the initiative and stressing that the possibilities of tourism in Kerala were endless, Mr. A. C. Moideen, Minister for Tourism, Kerala, said: "We hope that the initiative helps generate a feeling that the local community can contribute and benefit from the tourism industry."

The campaign will address ground-level concerns like waste management, infrastructure, safety and sustainability before 1st November 2016 when the tourist season officially gets underway.

The campaign which will run till 31st October 2016 will see a joint participation of tourism and trade stakeholders, local self-government bodies, National Service Scheme (NSS) Technical Cell under the Directorate of Technical Education, Suchitwa Mission, Kudumbasree, educational institutions, NGOs and other social organisations. Destination Managers will be appointed for effective and centralised co-ordination and management of these destinations.

Dr. Venu V., Principal Secretary, Kerala Tourism expressed hope that the initiative will light the spark for more projects.

Mr. U. V. Jose, Director, Kerala Tourism said the aim was to build a sustained system, 'rather than do a maintenance job on one day'.

The event also witnessed the unveiling of the campaign logo and the release of three tourism short films - on Wildlife, Kochi and Munnar.