New Director for Kerala Tourism

KERALA TOURISM NEWSLETTER

ISSUE: 272

APRIL 2016

New Director for Kerala Tourism

Mr. U. V. Jose IAS has joined as the New Director of Kerala Tourism. He also holds the additional charge of the Director of Department of Social Justice, Kerala.

Prior to this he was serving as District Collector of Kottayam. He has also served as the Director of Kerala Institute of Tourism & Travel Studies, Director of Grand Kerala Shopping Festival and Director of Kerala State Urban Development project.

Mr. U. V. Jose is a Civil Engineer with MBA and a Master’s Degree in Regional Planning from the School of Planning and Architecture, New Delhi and has done the Executive Development Institute in Tourism (EDIT) course at the University of Hawaii, USA.

Mr. Jose has over 15 years of experience in tourism planning and development and has led the Planning and Development Division of the Department of Tourism, Government of Kerala for about 10 years as Planning officer and Additional Director (Planning and Projects). Through innovative development strategies he has contributed significantly in positioning Kerala as a leading tourist destination in the country.

He is one of the major forces behind the conceptualization and implementation of Rural Tourism and Responsible Tourism initiatives in Kerala and framing the new tourism policy for the state. Mr. Jose was one of the panelists for two panel discussions in the World Responsible Day Celebration held at London on 8th November 2011 on ‘Role of Government in Making Tourism More Sustainable’ and ‘Making Destinations More Sustainable’. Another feather in his cap was the phenomenal success of the novel venture, Suchitwa Kottayam (Clean Kottayam) that he launched during his tenure as the Kottayam Collector. This programme was widely received as it was the first of its kind that witnessed widespread public participation. The initiative addressed the biggest issue Kottayam faced at the time by dealing with waste management at all levels.

He has also worked in CWRDM, Kozhikode; NIO, Goa; Department of Town Planning and Kerala State IT Mission in various positions and has received many awards/ recognitions including the National Award for best paper in Engineering. He has also published many papers in international journals.