Kerala Tourism wins UN World Tourism Award

TechnoparkToday.com>> Jan 24, 2014:  Kerala Tourism has been conferred the top United Nations Award for its global leadership in creating innovative initiatives for sustainable tourism, the first time India has ever won the recognition. This is the first ever award for India.

Kerala Tourism walked away with the top honours at the annual United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Awards for Excellence and Innovation in Tourism presented on January 22 in Madrid, the capital of Spain.   Kerala Tourism was awarded for its path-breaking ‘Responsible Tourism’ project in Kumarakom, which has successfully linked the local community with the hospitality industry and government departments, thereby creating a model for empowerment and development of the people in the area while sustaining eco-friendly tourism.

“We are humbled by the UNWTO’s decision to confer this highest international award on our state,” said Kerala Tourism Minister Shri A P Anilkumar. “It is a recognition of our continuing efforts to sustain global tourism, which can progress only if we consider the local community as our biggest partner,” he added.

Launched in 2008, the Kerala Tourism’s ‘Responsible Tourism’ initiative in Kumarakom involves the Gram Panchayat, Kudumbashree, District Tourism Promotion Council and local hospitality industry besides the government departments of agriculture and health, to achieve sustainable tourism by creating job opportunities and practicing eco-tourism objectives.

“We are delighted that Kumarakom has become a model for sustainable tourism to the world,” said Kerala Tourism Secretary Shri Suman Billa, who received the Ulysses Prize at a glittering awards ceremony. “Our ‘Responsible Tourism’ model shows that the future of tourism lies in initiatives at the grassroots level,” he added.

The UNWTO has 156 countries as its member-states besides 6 associate members and over 400 affiliate members representing the private sector, educational institutions, tourism associations and local tourism authorities.