Mr. Pinarayi Vijayan, Chief Minister of Kerala launched the Responsible Tourism Mission on 20th October 2017. RT Mission was formed with the objective of developing tourism with more popular, sustainable and responsible tourism techniques. As a part of this within 5 years, 1,00,000 people will get employment in agriculture, production, sale, trade of traditional products, production and distribution of handicrafts and souvenirs, tourism packages, accessible tourism, resource mapping, publication of tourism resource directory, cultural packages, waste management in destinations, RT network, cultural forum, RT Human Resource Directory for enabling employment in tourism sector, mobile applications for the same, and online platforms.
Making tourism a tool for the development of village and local communities, eradicating poverty and giving emphasis to women empowerment are the main aims of the Responsible Tourism Mission. The mission aspires to provide an additional income and a better livelihood to farmers, traditional artisans, and marginalised people along with creating a social and environmental equilibrium. As part of the Mission around 50,000 local residents will get trained in several activities and productions. The DoT hopes to provide direct employment to around 1,00,000 people in the tourism sector alone with the support of RT Mission.