Kerala wins UN award for Sustainable Tourism

Kerala Tourism has been conferred the United Nations Award for creating innovative initiatives for sustainable tourism, the first time India has ever won the recognition.

The state lifted the coveted honour for its sustainable development initiative in the world-renowned backwater resort of Kumarakom, a Kerala tourism release said.

Kerala Tourism bagged the honour at the annual United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Awards for Excellence and Innovation in Tourism presented at Madrid in Spain.

Kerala won the UNWTO Ulysses Award for Innovation in Public Policy and Governance, the highest honour given to the government bodies for shaping global tourism policies through innovative initiatives.

Kerala Tourism was chosen for the honour 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.

The Kumarakom initiative had earlier won the National Award for Best Rural Tourism Project in March last year and also the PATA Grand Award for Environment.

Courtesy:  http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-metroplus/and-the-winner-is/article5621224.ece

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Tourism has been conferred the United Nations Award for creating innovative initiatives for sustainable tourism, the first time India has ever won the recognition.

The state lifted the coveted honour for its sustainable development initiative in the world renowned backwater resort of Kumarakom, a Kerala tourism release said today.

Kerala Tourism bagged the honour yesterday at the annual United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Awards for Excellence and Innovation in Tourism presented at Madrid in Spain.Kerala won the UNWTO Ulysses Award for Innovation in Public Policy and Governance, the highest honour given to the government bodies for shaping global tourism policies through innovative initiatives.

Kerala Tourism was chosen for the honour 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.

The Kumarakom initiative had earlier won the National Award for Best Rural Tourism Project in March last year and also the PATA Grand Award for Environment.

"Kerala, a popular ecotourism destination, portrays responsible and sustainable tourism in an exceptional manner," said UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai, at the awards ceremony.

Last year, the Ministry of Tourism of Malaysia had won the UNWTO Ulysses Award for Innovation in Public Policy and Governance for its Homestay Experience Programme.

Previous winners in the category include Peru, Portugal and China.

Instituted in 2003 by UNWTO, the United Nations agency for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism, the UNWTO Awards showcase innovation and application of knowledge in tourism with the aim of effecting governance and society.

UNWTO Ulysses Award for Innovation was given in four categories --- Public Policy and Governance; Enterprises and NGOs; Research and Technology.

Two other categories, UNWTO Ulysses Prize and UNWTO Award for Lifetime Achievement recognise individual contributions.

"We are humbled by the UNWTO's decision to confer this highest international award on our state," said Kerala Tourism Minister 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.

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Kerala becomes first Indian state to win top UN Award in Tourism

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Jan 24, 2014 at 07:59pm IST

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Thiruvananthapuram: 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.
Kerala Tourism walked away with the top honours at the annual United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) Awards for Excellence and Innovation in Tourism presented on January 22 in Madrid, the capital of Spain.
In its biggest international recognition to date, Kerala Tourism won the UNWTO Ulysses Award for Innovation in Public Policy and Governance, the highest honour given to government bodies for shaping global tourism policies through innovative initiatives.

Kerala Tourism won the UNWTO Ulysses Award for its global leadership in creating innovative initiatives for sustainable tourism.

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.
The Kumarakom initiative had earlier won the National Award for Best Rural Tourism Project in March last year and also the PATA Grand Award for Environment.
"Kerala, a popular ecotourism destination, portrays responsible and sustainable tourism in an exceptional manner," said UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai, at the awards ceremony. "This recognition conferred upon the state is a great step towards creating a better understanding among other destinations of the principles we stand for," he added, wishing Kerala Tourism "continued success".
This is the first time India is figuring on the list of UNWTO Award winners.
Last year, the Ministry of Tourism of Malaysia had won the UNWTO Ulysses Award for Innovation in Public Policy and Governance for its Homestay Experience Programme. Previous winners in the category include Peru, Portugal and China. CNN's Richard Quest was conferred the 2013 UNWTO Award for Lifetime Achievement, in recognition of his work as a business journalist reporting on the tourism industry.
Instituted in 2003 by UNWTO, the United Nations agency for the promotion of responsible, sustainable and universally accessible tourism, the UNWTO Awards showcase innovation and application of knowledge in tourism with the aim of effecting governance and society. The awarded projects are in line with the UNWTO's Code of Ethics for Tourism and standards set in the UN Millennium Development Goals.
UNWTO Ulysses Award for Innovation was given in four categories - Publlic Policy and Governance, Enterprises, NGOs, and Research and Technology. Two other categories - UNWTO Ulysses Prize and UNWTO Award for Lifetime Achievement recognize individual contributions.
Kerala Tourism faced tough competition from other international contenders in the Public Policy and Governance category.
"We are humbled by the UNWTO's decision to confer this highest international award on our state," said Kerala Tourism Minister Shri AP 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.
"By building healthy private-public partnerships at the local level with the active involvement of the local community, we can create jobs locally, improve the lives of members of the local community and preserve its culture and ethos through sustainable tourism," Shri. Anilkumar said.
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 award also bestows upon us the added responsibility of working even harder in the future by achieving higher standards in practicing tourism," Shri Billa said.
"The Kumarakom project has become successful because of the hard work by all its partners, from the local community to local hospitality organizations and local government departments to the state tourism department staff, and above all the support of our esteemed travellers from around the world," said Kerala Tourism Director Shri S Harikishore.
The awarded projects at the UNWTO Awards this year represent some of the best examples of tourism leaders from around the world which through their exceptional initiatives have placed themselves at the forefront of the sector.
The awards ceremony was held at the International Tourism Trade Fair (FITUR), in Madrid.
The UNWTO Awards Ceremony was followed by the UNWTO Knowledge Network Symposium on January 23. The Symposium showcased the projects of winners of the UNWTO Awards in the different categories. It also included keynote speeches by the 2013 UNWTO Ulysses Prize and Lifetime Achievement laureates and a high level panel on knowledge management in tourism.
Kerala Tourism Secretary was one of the panelists at a UNWTO Knowledge Network Symposium session, titled, 'Innovation in Tourism: Building Future in Tourism,' held on January 23.
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. 

Anarchy or Acumen

Paul V Mathew
In both ways people are becoming the victims of politics. While prevailing issues of corruption and maladministration are clutching the necks of aam admi at one side, a group of politicians place political posture above public interest by violating the mandate of of common men. When a Chief Minister becomes an activist and quixotic by ignoring the priorities of people, it seems only hasty and speedy. The question of effective governance complying with the rule of law is now debating.    Soliciting your views. 

Mathews Rajan
When you have all the pieces in a chess board except the pawns, how can you make the first move. In order to clean up the mess that has become Delhi , you need a police force that does not behave indifferently towards a crime,criminals & or a  democratically elected government. The situation though must be controlled  ,and must not affect the working of the government.
As for the common man and his suffering , if you can sacrifice a few day's inconvenience for a few years of good governance then that sacrifice is a small price to pay . As they say ,Rome was not built in a day.

Sadashiv
Well said Mathew. Who said governments are to run only from marble floored buildings? If my government runs from the streets and still delivers, then so be it. Everyone is ready to jump the bandwagon of blaming this movement that had the guts to dream. Given the choice between honest, straightforward and down-to-earth (no pun intended) democratically elected officials to that rigid, paternalistic system that people call "mature government", I'd choose the former readily.

Paul V Mathew

When the Supreme Court and Election commission lashed out on AAP warning breaching the code of conduct, media project that the hope of common public becomes bleak when AAP deviates from action to activism. The initial turbulence of Binni and the naive approach of Bharti creep them in to a more unstable situation. 
History proves that anti corruption (anti-congress) movement or people agitation is is a part of the political cycle that hardly creates any BREAKTHROUGH in India. The anti corruption campaigners BSP. TDP, JDS, RJD, JP etc. are in almost dormant and in the midst of allegations. Though we expected a paradigm shift in Middle East, the issue is now worst than earlier. .

But the hope here is that rather than anti congress, AAP strives to create change in the political rigmarole which is a need of the time. Though it is very earlier to predict the future of AAP, there may be no dual opinion in the fact that practicing good governance is much harder than  preaching. Any how, it seems a positive sign to strengthen democracy, governance, and sovereignty of citizens. Let's hope this 'start' be a beginning of the purification and sanctification of our system.

Thank you for the valuable response.

Responsible Tourism at Kumarakom bagged UNWTO award.

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Award is for Community Based Tourism Products (CBT) in the category of Innovation in Public Policy and Governance. Grass root level participation, LSG leadership and industry cooperation were instrumental behind this recognition –Rupesh Kumar, State Project Coordinator said. 

Though recognition for Responsible Tourism is not a breaking news at Kumarakom, the UNWTO award for Innovation in Public Policy and Governance-2013 announced yesterday, offered a moment of pride for Kerala Tourism. The prestigious UNWTO Ulysses Award is for highly innovative and participatory initiatives that reflect tangible and sustainable improvements in policy, processes, and governance which works towards an inclusive model of tourism governance; UN sources said. Mr. Rupesh Kumar, State Project Coordinator, Responsible Tourism said that the active involvement of the Kudumbasree, local community and NGOs in field level interventions, LSG leadership and industry cooperation were prime factors that made this achievement possible in a short period of time. Rupesh authored three books on Responsible Tourism and sustainable strategies is also in the charge of Destination Coordinator from the very inception of the project and instrumental behind many acclaims. The highly innovative Community Based Tourism Product (CBT) Village Life Experience (VLE) tours aim at exploring hinterlands of villages and sharing benefits to the local community made us to clinch this honor, he added.   Dhanya Sabu, President of the Kumarakom village council says that Responsible Tourism initiative has transformed their lives. G.C. Damodaran, former Pnachayath President – an active campaigner of Responsible Tourism also played a key role in grass root empowerment and innovations.

It is estimated that 22 Kudumbasree vegetable units, 100 family based egg production units, 14 local farmers clubs, and 360 homestead units are actively involved with RT initiatives at Kumarakom. Additionally, at least 1,000 local residents have benefited from the industry – community link-up. Estimates show that total income (directly to community) generated through RT procurement supply mechanism crossed one crore during last year.  

(Paul V Mathew is the former State Team Leader, Responsible Tourism, Kerala, paulvmathew.hr@gmail.com)

Rupesh Kumar, a silent warrior creates legacies of Responsible Tourism

http://fillthelacuna.blogspot.in/2013/07/rupesh-kumar-silent-warrior-creates.html

Village Life Experience Tours

http://wwwruralindiacom.blogspot.in/2010/09/day-with-farmers-kumarakom.html