The award gives Responsible Tourism initiatives a fresh boost to its efforts in making travel a tool for long-term development of villages.
Responsible Tourism (RT), the much lauded sustainable tourism project that has been held aloft by Kerala at various avenues, has now helped Kerala Tourism win the Travel + Leisure Global Vision Award 2022. The accolade instituted by US-based travelandleisure.com has handed Kerala’s Responsible Tourism initiatives a fresh boost to its efforts to make travel a tool for long-term development of villages.
The New York-headquartered website gives away the honour to individuals, companies, organisations and tourist centres that implement tourism and transportation projects that are experiential, sustainable and environment-friendly. A 14-member jury announced the Travel + Leisure awards totalling five, based on a scrutiny of applications from across the globe.
Kerala’s Responsible Tourism an exemplary model
The judges noted that Kerala, which implemented RT from October 2017, has been functioning on an exemplary model that enables tourism to encourage poverty eradication, women empowerment, social progress and agriculture practices. The project ensures RT makes the place ideal to live and visit. Its beneficiaries include local artists, artisans and farmers, the jury said.
Kerala Tourism Minister P A Mohamed Riyas said the post-Covid world accords unprecedented importance to experiential tourism focused on villages. The award highlights the global acceptance the state’s RT Mission merits for its exemplary work, he added.
Dr. Venu V, Additional Chief Secretary – Kerala Tourism, noted that the Travel + Leisure awards typically go to those institutions that facilitate comprehensive changes in society through tourism. The latest honour is indicative of Kerala’s much-touted social indices along with the development of tourism, he pointed out.
Guarantees benefits to people from all strata of society
The award comes in recognition of the state’s excellent work in Responsible Tourism that guarantees benefits to people from all strata of society through different activities of the mission. It has been noted that the award gives the Responsible Tourism Mission a boost to make tourism a domain with the participation of the common people to their benefit.
Besides Kerala Tourism, the awards went to Alaskan Dream Cruises (USA), Black Cultural Heritage Tours (USA), new supersonic passenger airliner Boom 65 (USA) and Saira Hospitality (the UK).