The much-lauded ‘Responsible Tourism’ (RT) initiatives have won further recognition with the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) describing them as a model for other tourist destinations across the world.
The international tourism organisation also called for development of closer ties between Kerala Tourism and the UNWTO, emphasising the importance of further association to help take forward the message of sustainable tourism.
At a recent meeting held at the UNWTO headquarters in Madrid, Kerala Tourism Director U.V. Jose presented a report on the RT campaigns to Xu Jing, UNWTO Regional Director, Asia Pacific.
Congratulating Kerala for the initiative’s success, Mr. Jing said: “The UNWTO is impressed by the Kerala model of responsible and sustainable tourism. The projects can be included as part of the UNWTO’s global programmes and the report can be a case study for other destinations. We are eager to strengthen our relationship and discuss matters of common interest.”
Further collaboration
Mr. Jing suggested areas for further collaboration such as associating with Kerala Tourism on implementing the Sustainable Development Goals and conducting joint efforts towards measuring sustainable tourism along with the UNWTO’s Technical Cooperation Programme.
The UNWTO also invited Kerala Tourism to deliver a presentation at the Joint Commission Meeting to be held in Bangladesh in May and the UNWTO’s International Conference on ‘Tourism Statistics: Measuring Sustainable Tourism’ to be held in Manila from June 21.
RT award
Mr. Jing enquired about the possibility of Kerala Tourism collaborating with the UNWTO to create an RT advocacy agenda based on the ‘Responsible Tourism Symposium’ in South Korea and initiating an RT award at the next edition of the KTM along the lines of the Japanese Travel Association’s (JATA) Japan Tourism Award for Responsible Tourism, Mr. Jose said in a release here.
The meeting was held on the sidelines of FITUR 2017, one of the world’s largest tourism and travel fairs.
