RESPONSIBLE
TOURISM AT KUMARAKOM-
An Effective Mechanism to Achieve
Millennium Development Goals (MDG)
Paul V Mathew
ABSTRACT
When
the whole world strives to achieve the ambitious goals of United Nations
Millennium Development Goals, a novel program Responsible Tourism paves way for
sustainable development in a small village tourism destination Kumarakom in
Kerala. The new approach of MGD hints a shift of the scale of growth from
economic terms to human development indicators that reiterates that it is the
empowerment of people of bottom level decides the real development of nations.
To ensure faster, sustainable and inclusive growth, participation of people
from all walks of life is essential especially from the marginalized sector. Lessons
from Kumarakom invariably proved that Public- Private Partnership (PPP) and
stake holders participation lead towards the achievement of MDG. Considering
the multi stakeholder collaboration and community innovation, United Nations
World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) recognized this initiative with Best Innovation in Public Policy
and Governance. Responsible Tourism aims at social, cultural, economic and environmental sustainability has a decisive
role in eradication of poverty and hunger, promotion of gender equality
and women empowerment, combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases and to
develop a global partnership for development. This paper presents case study on
the Responsible Tourism initiatives at Kumarakom by Kerala Tourism and Kerala
State Poverty Eradication Mission and how it charts a new trend in achieving
MDG specially G1,G3, G6. G7 and G8.
Key
Words:
Responsible Tourism (RT), Sustainable Development, Public Private Participation
(PPP), Poverty Eradication, Women Empowerment, Sustainable Livelihood, and
Triple Bottom Line (TBL) approach
Introduction
The concept of growth now turns towards a
more meaningful term ‘development’ that gives equal importance for natural
capital, social capital and intellectual capital along with the widely focused
industrial capital. Globally accepted development strategy by the Brundtland
Commission in its 1987 report ‘Our Common Future’ defines sustainable
development as "development that meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. In
order to actualize this ideology United Nations visualized eight ambitious
goals as ‘Millennium Development Goals (MDG) aimed at responding to the world's
main development challenges, including poverty reduction, opportunities for
education, better maternal health, gender equality, and reducing child
mortality, AIDS and other diseases with a global partnership that agreed to
achieve these by 2015 based on all actors working together at global, regional
and national levels. Along with UN, its specialized agency for tourism, United
Nations World Tourism organization (UNWTO) is now joining hands with UN by
committing to fostering the tourism sector’s contribution to development.
UNWTO assumes that tourism accounts for
45 percent of the exports of services of least-developed countries and is a
major job generator for many of the world’s most vulnerable populations.
Indeed, in 2009, emerging economies received 410 million international tourism
arrivals, a 47 percent share of the global total, and US$306 billion in
international tourism receipts, 36 percent of the global total (UNWTO, 2012).
As such, the industry can play a significant role in the achievement of the
MDGs, in particular MDG 1 - Eradication of Poverty, MDG 3 - Gender Equality,
MDG 7 - Environmental Sustainability, and MDG 8 - Global Partnerships for
Development (UNESCAP, 2012). At the same time it is generally assumed that
international tourism can generate benefits for poor people and poor
communities in the context of sustainable tourism development, usually without
specifically targeting the poor. When many destinations are striving to achieve
sustainability and ensuring local community development, a village destination
in Kerala, Kumarakom came out with flying colours by successfully implementing
a sustainable tourism development concept Responsible Tourism (RT) that
acclaimed by UNWTO award in the
category of Innovation in Public Policy and Governance. The article gives a
glimpse on the contribution of Responsible Tourism towards achieving
Millennium Development Goals (MDG).
Responsible
Tourism (RT) and Millennium Development Goals (MDG)
“Responsible Tourism” is about enabling local communities to enjoy a
better quality of life through increased socio-economic benefits and improved
natural resource management along with providing better holiday experiences for
guests and good business opportunities for tourism enterprises (DEAT, 1996). It
is often referred to as “a better place to visit and a better place to live”.
South Africa’s Tourism White Paper (1996) refers specifically to the concept of
“Responsible Tourism”, the key elements of which can be defined in terms of:
•
Developing, managing and marketing
tourism in ways that create competitive advantage;
•
Assessing and monitoring the
environmental, social and economic impacts of tourism developments, and openly
disclosing information;
•
Ensuring the active involvement of
communities that benefit from tourism, including their participation in
planning and decision-making and the establishment of meaningful economic linkages;
•
Maintaining and encouraging natural,
economic, social and cultural diversity;
•
Avoiding waste and over-consumption, and
promoting the sustainable use of local resources.
After
the mid of 1990s we witnessed a shift of growth /development from economic
performance to the “triple bottom line” – growth that is economically, socially
and environmentally sustainable. In par with this objective Responsible Tourism
gives equal preference to the economy, society and the environment – the three
pillars of sustainable development. The major responsibilities are summarized
below (Spenceley et.al, 2012)
Economic
Responsibility
|
• Assess economic impacts before developing tourism.
• Maximise local economic benefits by increasing linkages and reducing
leakages.
• Ensure communities are involved in and benefit from tourism.
• Assist with local marketing and product development.
• Promote equitable business and pay fair prices.
|
Social
Responsibility
|
• Involve local communities in planning and decision making.
• Assess social impacts of tourism activities.
• Respect social and cultural diversity.
• Be sensitive to the host culture.
|
Environmental
Responsibility
|
• Reduce environmental impacts when developing tourism.
• Use natural resources sustainably.
• Maintain biodiversity.
|
Amongst
all, Responsible Tourism aims at maximizing tourism’s contribution as a main
driver of economic growth and development. UNWTO reports that the Sustainable
Tourism-Eliminating Poverty (ST-EP) is UNWTO’s long-term program aimed at
reducing poverty through developing and promoting sustainable forms of tourism.
To date, UNWTO has implemented over 90 ST-EP projects in 31 countries. United
Nation also produced a design on the Contribution of tourism to achieving the
Millennium Development Goals ((UNESCAP, 2012).
Millennium Development Goals (MDG)
|
Contribution
of tourism
|
|
1
|
Eradicate
extreme
poverty
and hunger
|
a)
Tourism stimulates economic growth both at the
national and local levels and promotes the growth of the agricultural,
industrial and service sectors;
b) Tourism
provides a wide range of employment opportunities easily accessible by the
poor. Tourism businesses and tourists purchase goods and services directly
from the poor or enterprises employing the poor. This creates opportunities
for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in which the poor can
participate;
c)
International and domestic tourism spreads
development to poor regions and remote rural areas of a country that may not
have benefited from other types of economic development;
d)
The development of tourism infrastructure can
benefit the livelihood of the poor through improvement in tourism-linked
service sectors, including transport and communications, water supply, energy
and health services.
|
2
|
Achieve
universal
primary
education
|
a) The
construction of roads and tracks to remote areas for tourists also improves
access for school-age children and for teachers;
b)
Tourism can help local resource mobilization, part
of which can be spent on improvement of education facilities
|
3
|
Promote gender
equality
and
empower women
|
(a)
The tourism industry employs a high proportion of women
and creates microenterprise opportunities for them. It promotes women’s
mobility and provides opportunities for social networking.
|
4
|
Reduce child
mortality
|
a)
The construction of roads and tracks to remote
areas for tourists also improves access to health services;
b)
Revenues accruing to national and local
governments through taxes on the tourism industry can be used to improve
health services and nutrition for young
children and their mothers;
c)
Tourism raises awareness about HIV/AIDS issues and
supports HIV/AIDS-prevention campaigns;
d)
Tourism aggravates the spread of HIV/AIDS
(negative effect).
|
5
|
Improve
maternal health
|
|
6
|
Combat
HIV/AIDS,
malaria
|
|
Ensure
environmental
sustainability
|
a)
Tourism can generate financial resources for
conservation of the natural environment;
b)
Tourism raises awareness about environmental
conservation and promotes waste management, recycling and biodiversity
conservation;
c)
Uncontrolled tourism may generate negative
externalities as a result of pollution,
congestion and
d) Depletion
of natural resources (negative effect).
|
|
Develop a
global
partnership
for
development
|
(a) Tourism
contributes to the socio-economic development of least developed countries,
landlocked countries and island developing countries through foreign exchange
earnings and the creation of job opportunities;
(b) Tourism
stimulates the development of the transport infrastructure, which facilitates
access to and from the least developed countries, landlocked countries and island
developing countries;
(c) Tourism
stimulates internal and external trade and strengthens supply chains;
(d) Tourism
promotes the integration of isolated economies with regional and global flows
of trade and investment;
(e) Tourism
reduces the burden on government budgets through implementation of
public-private initiatives;
(f) Tourism
creates decent and productive work for youth;
(g) Tourism
provides opportunities for bilateral, multilateral and subregional cooperation
among countries;
(h) Information
technologies play an important role in integrating tourism enterprises into
global tourism markets.
|
Source: United Nations
ESCAP, Transport and Tourism Division, Transport Policy and Tourism Section.
Effective
industry participation, Ownership of Local Self Governments (LSG), Corporate
Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives of business and industry-community
harmony create a conducive environment for achieving MDG in destinations. The
pro-poor approach, sustainable strategy, inclusive and justifiable development
initiatives of Responsible Tourism pave way for a holistic development of
tourism destinations.
Responsible Tourism at Kumarakom
Considering
the availability of plenty of natural resources, skilled manpower, supportive
entrepreneurial community, strong local-self-governments, civil society
organizations, multitude of micro enterprises, streams of professionals and
academicians, responsible media and responsive tourism industry, in 2008, Government of Kerala decided to implement
Responsible Tourism at four destinations, including Kovalam, Kumarakom, Wayanad
and Thekkady on a pilot basis. Among
these destinations Kumarakom emerged as the best model for RT and was honored by
Ministry of Tourism, Government of India UNWTO and PATA.
Kumarakom,
a village with a population of about 6000 persons, is known for its panoramic
backwater stretches, lush green paddy fields, highlands and beaches. The
destination has fairly large tourist inflow and sufficient accommodation
facility. About 20 hotels and resorts are operating at Kumarakom. While
analyzing the role of Responsible Tourism at Kumarakom with the ambitious MDG,
it is vital to note that it plays a significant role in achieving Goal 1 (to
eradicate extreme poverty and hunger), Goal 3 (To promote gender equality and
empowering women), Goal 6 (To improve maternal health), Goal 7 (To ensure
environmental sustainability) and Goal 8 (To develop a global partnership for
development)
Goal 1 (to eradicate extreme
poverty and hunger)
Economic
responsibility of Responsible Tourism aims at effectively utilizing the local
resources and natural attraction for business development and local community
benefit by increasing local purchase and employment, investment for the
development of local infrastructure and basic amenities, promotion of social
entrepreneurial activities, and skill development inventories contribute for
the overall well being of people (GITPAC, 2011). Under the banner of Kerala
State Poverty Eradication Mission, local Self Help Groups (SHG) joined together
to form a procurement supply group called ‘Samrudhi’ that now becomes the
engine of local economic growth and community development. Responsible Tourism
Cell at Kumarakom played a crucial role in creating an industry-community
harmony by linking the local market with tourism industry especially hotels in
the destination. It is assumed that around 1,000 local residents had benefited
from the community-industry link-up (RT Cell, Kumarakom, 2012) and it fostered the economic gains of the community by
reviving agriculture production, art and souvenir industry and by developing
various Community Based Tourism(CBT) products.
Though
it’s a small village, around 400 local products units, 22 Kudumbasree vegetable
units, 14 units of local farmers, and 360 homestead units, and many other
enterprise oriented units like fish processing unit, chapatti making unit,
chicken processing unit, tender coconut unit, gift making unit, pappad making
unit, handicraft, painting unit, souvenir unit, plantain leaves supply unit,
fish farming, lotus cultivation units and different cultural groups ensure
quality and prompt supply. Studies estimated that total sale of Samrudhi group
over these years is Rs. 7605000 and 91% of business happened with business
properties (2008-2013).
Goal 3 (To promote gender equality
and empowering women) and Goal 6 (To improve maternal health)
Women are the key players behind the
success of Responsible Tourism initiatives at Kumarakom. Kudumbasree, an active
arm of Kerala State Poverty Eradication Mission consistently strives for the
empowerment as well as sustainability of women in the society. Under the leadership of Kudumbasree and Grama
Panchayath, different SHG’s of women cultivate 85 acres of land along with 612
homesteads at Kumarakom. Development of innovative micro enterprises, creation
of self employment opportunities, micro enterprises and small product and
service units actively contribute for the social and economic empowerment of
women community in the destination. Study reveals that around 845 women are
directly benefitting from tourism through different kinds of activities.
Women Participation
|
||
No. of Units
|
Total Participants
|
|
SHG
|
10
|
75
|
Production Units
|
10
|
30
|
Micro Enterprises
|
20
|
100
|
Cultural Groups
|
4
|
40
|
Total
|
44
|
845
|
(Source: RT Cell, Kumarakom, 2013)
Responsible
Tourism gives thrust for women and children through Anganvadies in the area by
conducting awareness programs and health and hygiene related campaigns. The
Village Life Experience (VLE) packages developed by the RT Cell offers multiple
modes of opportunities for the guests to experience village life in midst of
authentic cultural and natural settings. Among these tours, a woman led country
boat ride ‘A day with the farmer’ gained wide popularity among the tourists and
travel partners. The members of the community participating in the package by
showing/demonstrating their activities receive fixed amounts from the package
price realized. There is also close interaction between the community and the
visitors through these packages. It is unique to see the professional Sinkari
Melam Group of women who cherishes the guests by their vibrant and mastery art
performing skills. Thus tourism promotes gender equality and women empowerment
by taking them to the fore of the society and ensures their participation in
management and decision making.
Goal 7 (To ensure environmental
sustainability)
Environmental
sustainability is one of the triple bottom line responsibilities which defines
as the ‘capacity to endure’ or ‘the maintenance of
natural capital’. Though this destination not yet achieved environmental
sustainability, it has achieved a lot on this aspect by involving different
kind of environmental conservation activities. The environmental
initiative of responsible tourism succeeded in declaring the bird sanctuary as
a plastic free zone, promoting bicycle journey around hotels and resorts,
promotion of organic farming, mangrove protection and control of back water
pollution with the help of the community. A survey of plastic use by sales
outlets in the area was conducted and promoted the manufacture and use of
eco-friendly carry bags by the establishments. A survey of energy and water use
as well as the generation and disposal of waste by the hotels was undertaken to
assess the extent of green practices by the industry. The data collected was
used for developing environmental criteria for granting green certificates. A
separate survey on energy consumption of street lights made the Panchayat to
replace a large number of bulbs (Kerala Tourism, 2012).
The resource mapping carried out through
household surveys and physical reconnaissance of the project area identified
large chunks of un-cultivated land in the villages. These were left fallow either
because of low yield and low demand for agricultural produces or because of
spiraling prices of non-agricultural land induced by the development of
tourism. The RT Cell was, however, able to mobilise Kudumbasree volunteers to
take up paddy cultivation in 55 acres of land and Grama Panchayat to introduce
vegetable cultivation in another 30 acres of land. In addition 612 homestead
farmers were motivated to take up vegetable cultivation to enhance vegetable
supplies to local hotels. It greatly improved the level of supply of
agricultural products to hotel industry apart from securing additional income
to the farmers. On the whole, about one-third of the population in the
Panchayat is presently involved in the production and sale of agricultural
products to tourism industry (GITPAC, 2012).
Goal 8 (To develop a global
partnership for development)
Kerala
is also in the forefront to disseminate and share the success stories by
organizing workshops, seminars, consultations and by utilizing various other
national and international platforms. Kerala witnessed two international
conferences on Responsible Tourism and sustainable strategies which has been
gained global attention in the backdrop of UNWTO’s award in the category of Innovation in Public Policy and Governance.
Kerala Tourism’s RT School is also an endeavor to enable participants to
work together to develop knowledge and skills to analyze the economic
opportunities for local communities in tourism and to develop intervention
strategies. The summer school would give the opportunity to learn from two of
the world's leading states practicing Responsible Tourism - Kerala and Gambia.
Apart from this Kerala Tourism participates in international travel marts and
trade/road shows to propagate Responsible Tourism as an ideal strategy for
sustainable destination development.
Based
on the learning from the pilot implementation, Kerala tourism went for the
Phase II of Responsible Tourism project that now is being implemented in more
than ten destinations in Kerala. RT Kerala Declaration and Manual for the
implementation of Responsible Tourism project were distributed to the local
self governments followed by the regional workshops for LSG representatives
with the objective of practicing this novel concept in all emerging tourism
destinations of Kerala. Studies proved that grass root level involvement,
ownership of community, participation of local self government and professional
technical support are the key requirements for the successful implementation of
RT programs.
Conclusion
Kerala Responsible
Tourism initiatives reiterate that this sustainable concept has a significant
impact among the community by transforming tourism in to more meaningful
changes in the social, economic and environmental facets of destinations. The
Kumarakom Grama Panchayat has effectively used the Responsible Tourism
initiative to make it a reality for positive and meaningful involvement of the
local community in the tourism industry for economic empowerment especially to
women. When a number of tourism destinations strive to maintain sustainability,
Responsible Tourism should be projected as a viable mechanism to eliminate
poverty and hunger, a suitable platform for gender equality and women
empowerment and the source for local economic development. Considering the success of Responsible
Tourism in Kumarakom, and the lead position that Kerala enjoys in the global
tourism market, this initiative could be replicated in all leading tourism
destinations to ensure sustainability of tourism development and a strategy to
achieve a need of this globe, Millennium Development Goals (MDG).
Reference
- Caroline Ashley et al., Pro-Poor Tourism Strategies: Making Tourism Work for the Poor,
Pro-Poor
Tourism Report Number1 (Nottingham, United Kingdom: Overseas Development Institute,
2001), p. 41.
- DEAT (1996) The development and promotion of tourism in South Africa, White Paper, Government of South Africa, Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism ((www.environment.gov.za)
- GITPAC (2012), Responsible Tourism in Destinations, Kerala
- GITPAC (2011), Report on Responsible Tourism at Kumarakom, Kerala
- Kerala Tourism (2012), Responsible Tourism in Kerala, Government of Kerala
- Spenceley, A., Relly, P., Keyser, H., Warmeant, P., McKenzie, M., Mataboge, A., Norton, P., Mahlangu, S., and Seif, J. (2002) Responsible Tourism Manual for South Africa, Department for Environmental Affairs and Tourism, July 2002.
- UNDP, 2013, Millennium Development Goals, www.undp.org/mdg/ (accessed on 13/12/2013)
- UNESCAP, 2012, Tourism and the Millennium Development Goals
- UN ESCAP (2011), Transport and Tourism Division, Transport Policy and Tourism Section.
- United Nations. 1987."Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development." General Assembly Resolution 42/187, 11 December 1987. Retrieved: 2007-04-12
- WTO, Tourism and Poverty Alleviation, (Madrid: WTO, 2002), p. 31
Vazhayil
Kinginimattam,
Kolenchery
Ernakulam,
Kerala
India
- 682311
Res:
0484-2766667
Mob:
+91-9745482028
Email:
paulvmathew.hr@gmail.com
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