It is inspiring to know that Responsible
Tourism Kumarakom has been honored by UN as the world first 'Responsible
Tourism Destination'. After releasing the RT Guidelines for LSG's prepared by
K. Rupesh, the mind blogging remark – “State has allocated Rs 4,000 crore for
local self government bodies, but they do not have any guidelines to follow for
spending on tourism” - seems true amidst
contradictions. It is implicit that RT will not be successful without grass
root level participation and LSG ownership. At the same time, I was
thinking about the reasons behind the lackluster performance of Kovalam,
Thekkady and Wayanad - 3 of the other pilot destinations in Kerala. All these
LSG members were actively participated in the DLRTC's and SLRTC's and
positively supported by Kerala Tourism and RT Cell Team in destinations. They
were well trained in the modus operandi of Responsible Tourism implementation.
After 6 years, a comparison among RT destinations became an inexplicable task.
Was the failure is because of lack of guidelines?
Technical support, professional expertise
and grass root level interventions for enhancing the rapport between people and
properties/community and business are the challenging tasks ahead. While
releasing a huge amount from the exchequer, no one in the board is ready to
promise that Kudumbasree is equipped to ensure uninterrupted and quality supply
of products and services. There is no dual opinion in the fact that KS is a
strong grass root level mechanism for women empowerment, but what about the top
positions in the bottom line? How we can entice well qualified and educated
members to this successful model to make it sustainable in a more professional
manner? More questions and fewer answers!
All the best.
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