Responsible Tourism – A Strategy for Sustainable Development; Lessons from Kumarakom

Responsible Tourism – A Strategy for Sustainable Development; Lessons from Kumarakom

Paul V Mathew and Prof (Dr.) Moli P Koshy

Abstract

Tourism development makes positive difference in the lives of local community; it is the learning from Kumarakom. Amidst worries on the negative impact of tourism on environment and society, Responsible Tourism initiative of Kerala at Kumarakom emerged as model destination for sustainable tourism development. The influence of Responsible Tourism initiative made this destination a better place to live and a better place to visit. Grass root level leadership, community involvement, women participation and industry support make this village destination with a population of around 6000 to await for the United Nations accolade – ‘Global Responsible Tourism Destination’. This paper attempts to articulate the features and impacts of Responsible Tourism in the destination, in compliance with sustainable development principles. 

Key Words: Responsible Tourism, Sustainable Development, Triple Bottom Line Aproach (TBL), Community Based Tourism (CBT) Products

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The concept of Sustainable Development defined by the Brundtland Report of UN World Commission on Environment and Development goes like this, “meeting the needs of the present without jeopardizing the ability of future generation to meet their needs”. While sustainable development focuses on the future generation, Responsible Tourism (RT) envisages a holistic approach by creating a win-win situation between present and future, it is ‘about creating better places for people to live in and better places for people to visit’. The success stories from Kumarakom invariably prove that Responsible Tourism paves way for better environment and sustainable livelihood for existing as well as upcoming generations.

It is apparent that tourism has a decisive role in the development of local as well as regional economies. The growth of tourism in the recent past across the world was tremendous – in the last decade, tourism industry recorded a growth of over 10%, accounting for 10% of the world’s economic activity and is now becoming a key source of business, employment and livelihood. UNWTO predicts that by 2020, the growth of tourism will double the present level. Whilst reading this in line with the emerging mantras like ‘faster, inclusive and sustainable growth’, tourism has a huge potential in the development of bottom line.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

·         To understand the role of Responsible Tourism (RT) in sustainable tourism development of destinations

·         To identify the roles played by different stakeholders of Responsible Tourism

·         To analyze the impact of Responsible Tourism in Triple Bottom Line (TBL) areas

METHODOLOGY

The article was being prepared based on a mixed methodology consists of quantitative and qualitative input from various stakeholders of Responsible Tourism. Primary data has been collected from the destination and the Responsible Tourism cell at Kumarakom. A study has been conducted among the industry partners to understand the influence of RT initiatives in their policy decisions and a similar community feedback survey has been administered in a simple random manner to identify the impact of RT on the local community. Along with the empirical study, researchers conducted discussions with the beneficiaries, industry partners and Responsible Tourism Officials at the destination.   

LITERATURE REVIEW

The concept of Responsible Tourism was introduced by Jost Krippendorf in the 1980’s as a way out strategy to the Alpine plateaus of Switzerland where tourism has had significant negative impacts on the planet and people.  Krippendorf in The Holiday Makers (1987) called for “rebellious tourists and rebellious locals” “to develop and promote new forms of tourism, which will bring the greatest possible benefit to all the participants - travelers, the host population and the tourist business, without causing intolerable ecological and social damage.”

Responsible Tourism (RT) is the mutual coexistence and interdependence of diverse stakeholders of tourism to provide better holiday experiences for visitors and good business opportunities for tourism business. It is also about enabling local communities to enjoy a better quality of life through increased socio-economic benefits and improved natural resource management (Spenceley et. al, 2002). South Africa’s Tourism White Paper (1996) specifically states that RT focuses on assessing and monitoring the environmental, social and economic impacts of tourism, maintaining and encouraging natural, economic, social and cultural diversity and avoiding waste and over-consumption, and promoting the sustainable use of local resources.

Also in 1988, the United Nations World Tourism organization (UNWTO) defined sustainable tourism as ‘leading to management of all resources in such a way that economic, social and aesthetic needs can be fulfilled while maintaining cultural integrity, essential ecological processes, biological diversity and life support systems’. Later in 1992, the ‘Earth Summit’ in Rio established the triple principles of environmental, economic and social sustainability. In the wake of these developments Cape Town Declaration (2002) on Responsible Tourism adopted the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) approach; viz: social responsibility, environmental responsibility and economic responsibility which  is shown in (Table.1)

Economic Responsibility	Social Responsibility	Environmental Responsibility
•  Maximize 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	• 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	•  Reduce environmental impacts when developing tourism •  Use natural resources sustainably •  Maintain biodiversity

Table 1: Triple Bottom Line (TBL) Approach of Responsible Tourism

Millennium Development Goals (MDG) is one of the pioneering initiatives of United Nations (UN) to achieve global sustainability and sustainable development that focuses on poverty eradication, universal primary education, gender equality and women empowerment, maternal health, combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases, environmental sustainability and global partnership for development (UNMDG, 2009). It is vital to note that schemes and programs like Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria (GSTC, 2011), Golden Globe, Responsible Tourism Kerala Declaration (2008), Cape Town Declaration (2002), Responsible Tourism Manual, South Africa (2002), Kerala Responsible Tourism Certification (2011) and the concepts like honorable tourism, accessible tourism, eco tourism, nature tourism etc. to promote sustainability; aim at achieving the ambitious Millennium Development Goals.

Partnerships between governments, tourism agencies and community lead to true sustainability and that was the experience of Honduras. An operating approach in the region by USAID and APROECOH (an ecotourism association) promotes community-based efforts which have trained many local that proved that the grass root organizations were more successful in Honduras (Mader, 1996). Also studies (Michot, 2010, Rabeendran, 2011) prove that Kumarkom emerged as a replicable model in sustainable tourism destination, though it has an abysmal history of destination management. While considering the experiments and experiences with RT, It is understood that the principles of sustainability is vital for the holistic development of a destination that requires creative and constructive participation of all stake holders especially industry, community and Local Self Government (LSG) (Harold and Venu, 2011).

When industrial development and ecological consideration fail to maintain a balance, responsible tourism acts as an alternative solution for destination management and tourism development. In the back drop of the statement “all economic activities involve the use of resources, natural and human, many of which cannot be renewed, recycled or replaced” (Eber 1992), it is the high time to discuss and deliberate on the concept ‘Responsible Tourism – a strategy for sustainable tourism development’.  

LESSON FROM KUMARAKOM, KERALA

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 of around 20 hotels and resorts. It is now a live example of how tourism makes meaning in the lives of people by creating multitudes of lessons on people participation, grass root level leadership, women empowerment, sustainable livelihood, agriculture production, destination management, and environmental preservation.

Followed by the wide level stakeholder consultation and the first International Conference on Responsible Tourism in Kochi, Govt. of Kerala has decided to take up this novel idea for field level implementation and the pilot process started in March, 2008. A three tier mechanism has been constituted for the administration and monitoring of the project; viz. State Level Responsible Tourism Committee (SLRTC) at centre, District Level Responsible Tourism Committee (DLRTC) and Destination level Responsible Tourism Cell. After six years of successful experiments, with active support from community, government, partners, and stakeholders, Kumarakom emerged as an ideal destination for sustainable tourism development.  

As the sustainable development conceptualizes, Responsible Tourism also has the three pillar approach (Planet, People and Profit) and the Triple Bottom line Approach (TBL). The initiative of Responsible Tourism at Kumarakom produced significant results in all the triple bottom line areas that make it as an emulating model for the whole world.   

Economic Responsibility

While tourism industry makes use of the local resources and natural attraction for business development, economic responsibility ensures local community benefit from tourism development in adequate measures. Business-community rapport, 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.   

Industry – Community Linkage: Effective partnering industry is one of the key features of Kumarakom model. Contrary to the traditional industry-community conflicts, Kumarakom witnesses an active participation of industry and thereby creates a win-win situation. As a partner of holistic development, almost all the hotels and resorts vehemently support RT initiatives with affirmative actions, and the industry-community link-up plays a crucial role in the development of production units and social enterprises. Intense participation of women under the banner of Kudumbasree becomes the engine of local economic growth and community development. Around 1,000 local residents had benefited from the community-industry link-up and it  fostered the economic gains of the community through the process included (i) assured market and reasonable prices for the local produce, (ii) enhanced production and the consequent employment generation (iii) minimization of leakages from tourism receipts.

Diagram 1: Economic Linkages – Kumarakom (6^th SLRTC)

Social Enterprises and Employment generation: The Samrudhi shop, an active procurement supply system established with aim of local procurement and supply of vegetables is the most successful business model; ensures uninterrupted supply of products to hotels. In order to ensure quality and fair price, Quality Assurance Committee (QAC) and Price Fixing Committee (PFC) has been constituted in the destination with equal representation from all the stakeholders. Even though the initial supply list comprised only 14 products, it got enhanced to 48.

Sl. No	Samrudhi Sales (in Rs.)		Other Enterprises
Year	Hotel	Open	Canteen	Souvenir Unit	Cultural Groups	Home stead	Farmers Unit	Other Processing Units	Total
2008	475000	250000	0	0	0	0	150000	0	875000
2009	1,000,000	325000	0	200000	0	150000	350000	75,000	2,100,000
2010	1400000	485000	0	800000	180000	350000	550000	185000	3950000
2011	600000	115000	650000	1280000	0	380000	220000	380000	3,625,000
2012	1700000	320000	2000000	1400000	600000	595000	850000	1580000	9045000
2013	750000	185000	1480000	885000	450000	325000	395000	865000	5,335,000
TOTAL	5925000	1680000	4130000	4565000	1230000	1800000	2515000	3085000	24930000

Table.2: Revenue from Responsible Tourism enterprises (2008 – 2013 June)

(Source: Responsible Tourism (RT) Cell, Kumarakom)

All the major hotels and resorts in the area sourced their raw materials through the Samrudhi shop which is supported by over 400 local production units in the Panchayath. The 22 Kudumbasree vegetable units, 14 units of local farmers, and 360 homestead units ensured quality and prompt supply. Each farm unit gets an average of Rs 20,000 monthly. Total sale of Samrudhi group over these years is Rs. 7605000 and 91% of business happened with business properties (Graph.1). There are 4 women managed community canteens each fetch approximately 3 lakh per month in peak months.

Along with these successful micro enterprise ventures, different Self Help Groups (SHG)  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 established by RT initiatives contribute for sustainable livelihood. Estimates proved that around thousand family getting direct benefit from tourism and the total revenue generated by Responsible Tourism so far exceeds 2.5 crores (Table.2)

Community Well being: A study conducted by the researchers identified that 79% of the community have positive attitude towards tourism and 55% opined that they are getting benefit from tourism directly or indirectly. When 60% responded that tourism brings infrastructure development, 78% believe that tourism doesn’t create any social issues in the destination and 72% are satisfied with the safety and security of people.  The study proved that tourism has a significant positive impact on destination and destination community.

The life changing story of Muraleedharan, a carpenter in the village elucidates community benefit from Tourism. Muraleedharan was a leading a miserable life with his family and was searching for an earning to meet two ends of his life. With utmost despair and to get rid of from the plight of poverty and debt, he was almost in the brim of committing suicide. RT Team identified his skill in making handicrafts and promoted him to develop beautiful models and miniatures of house boats and linked him to business enterprises. Now Muraleedharan earns around 30-35 thousands per month by developing souvenirs for hotels and resorts.

Product Development: Continuous innovation and priority for the development of Community Based Tourism (CBT) products keep the destination alive. A customized integration of community based tourism products Village Life Experience Package (VLE) is showcasing rare village experiences to visitors and ensuring community benefit. VLE is an income source for around 45 family in the destination and each of the participating member gets an average of Rs. 150/day (Table.3). Chendamelam, Shinkarimelam, and souvenir are some of the other income generating CBT products. 

   

Sl. No.	VLE Particulars	Number
1	Community Members involved	62
2	Women members	28
3	Number of Partnering hotels	19
4	Number of guests from hotel	350
5	Promoters/Agents	15
6	Total tourists visited	1250
7	Number of foreign tourists	850
8	Total Income	10,50,000

Table.3: VLE Participation (Source: RT Cell, Kumarakom)

Agriculture Production: The survey carried out by the RT cell identified large area of un-cultivated land 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. In association with Grama Panchayath, RT Cell mobilized Kudumbasree volunteers to cultivate 55 acres of land and motivated farmers to take up another 30 acres along with the introduction of homestead farming in 612 houses that   enhanced vegetable supplies to local hotels and greatly improved the level of supply of agricultural products.

It is apparent that responsible tourism has a decisive role in the local economic development and the enhancement of standard of living of ordinary people. Here tourism acts as tool for poverty eradication and human development.

Social Responsibility

Responsible tourism aims at maximizing the social benefit, envisions the role of local community in planning, decision making, benefit sharing and cultural preservation. The plans of RT designed in a way that to accrue to the local community in the form of employment, increased business opportunities in tourism and supporting activities and enhanced demand for local produces including agricultural products. The social benefits of tourism to local community comprises of better access to basic infrastructure, better living conditions and the revival of local art forms.

Community Participation:  Participatory planning, implementation and management are the sole features of Responsible Tourism. The Responsible Tourism Cell (RT Cell) established at the destination primarily focuses on connecting people with industry and Local Self Government (LSG) by ensuring participation from the grass root level through mechanisms like Destination Level Responsible Tourism Committee (DLRTC), Panchayath Level responsible Tourism Committee (PLRTC), Price Fixing Committee (PFC), Quality Assurance Committee (QAC), micro enterprises etc. Designing of projects and products gives preference for incorporating people at the bottom line. On the whole, about one-third of the population in the Panchayath is directly involved in the production and sale of agricultural products to tourism industry (Table.4)

Sl. No	Details of Participating units           (direct beneficiaries)		No. of Units	Total Participants
1	Women Participation	Kudumbasree	20	600
		SHG	10	75
		Production Units	10	30
		Micro Enterprises	20	100
		Cultural Groups	4	40
		Total		845
2	Home Stead		675	675
3	Farmers Unit		14	600
4	Local Production Units		100	100
5	Village Life Experience Package		3	62
6	Voluntary Life Guards			35
7	Naturalist		3	10
	TOTAL			2317

Table.4: Community Participation (Source: RT Cell, Kumarakom)

Women Empowerment: Kudumbasree, an active arm of Kerala State Poverty Eradication Mission plays a significant role in Responsible Tourism by ensuring participation of women through myriad entrepreneurial innovations that motivates them to come in to the main stream of society and governance.

Local Ownership: A very crucial lesson from the pilot level implementation of Responsible Tourism is that, people-ownership facilitated by the leadership of Local Self Government is the sign of sustainability. The ownership, mutual accord and collective effort of RT Cell, LSG and Community create legacies of ‘better together’ at Kumarakom. In the wake of this learning, government of Kerala had issued guidelines to all Panchayaths about the modus operandi of RT implementation.    

Stakeholders Involvement and Support: Grama Panchayath, Department of Tourism (DoT), Kudumbasree, Tourism Industry, local Self Help Groups (SHG) and N.G.O’s, farmers, Micro enterprises and other community partners are the major stakeholders involve with the implementation of RT initiative. 

Promotion of Art and Culture:  As a village destination, Kumarakom is rich in diverse art and cultural forms along with multitude of natural attractions. Considering this uniqueness, a professional Sinkari Melam Group of Children and Women was formed to enrich the experience of tourists and it became the first such cultural group in Kerala. In order to promote local fairs and festivals that reflect cultural identity, RT Cell prepared a festival calendar and made available to tourism industry partners for the promotion of such events as an added tourist attraction. The documentation of rare local ethnic cuisines and its preparation is a blessing to the tourism industry and promotion agencies. Miniature of kettuvallam (houseboats) molds using plenty availably screw pane now ‘the souvenir of Kumarakom’ carries by visitors as reminiscence of their visit. Endeavors of RT to promote these rare craftsmen by linking to industry led to accelerated growth of souvenir industry.

Village Life Experience Package (VLE): Beyond natural attraction, VLE provides experiences of real village life to tourists by guiding them into destination hinterlands and thereby distributing economic benefits of tourism directly to the community. Additionally, it offers visitors to interact, involve, experience and try with the local community.  The packages titled “Village Life Experience at Kumarakom”, “A Day with Farmers’ & ‘A Day with Fisherman” received overwhelming response from visitors and tour operators. These packages incorporate service of local guide/interpreter, boat ride, Anganwadi visit, fish farm and demonstration of traditional fish catching methods, home garden, coconut leaf weaving, traditional crafts making, toddy tapping, coir making, and autorikshaw ride.

Social Awareness: The tourists as well as community are provided with awareness on the adverse impacts of tourism including child labour, drug addiction, exploitation, child sex abuse, prostitution, etc and the RT cell is keen on imparting the theme of Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria (GSTC), code of conduct and visitor management plans among business partners. Now the community itself is equipped to respond to negative practices and take leadership to keep the clean destination image by identifying and preventing unethical behaviors.

Training and Capacity Building: With the sole objective of ensuring competency and professional approach of partnering units and to develop new micro enterprises, Responsible Tourism initiatives organize training and capacity building programs in various formats. A large number of people have already been covered under some kind skill development training, aimed at providing vocational training and to promote entrepreneurial skills (Table.5). People get training in organic farming, wasteland cultivation, food safety, houseboat operation and backwater cruising, candle making, responsible driving, virtual learning and life guarding. RT cell takes initiatives to connect people with different government departments by arranging capacity building programs, funds, technical advice etc.

Sl. No	Particulars of Training	No. of Participants
1	Guide Training	30
2	Samrudhi Group	25
3	Organic Farming	110
4	VLE Training	75
5	Handicraft making	15
6	Kudumbasree	1500
7	Production Units	600
8	Farmers	600
9	Life guard	45
10	Auto, Taxi, Boat Driver’s training	150
11	AIDS Awareness	150
	TOTAL	3300

Table.5: Training and Capacity Building Programs (Source, RT Cell, Kumarakom)

A destination resource directory and an employees directory have been prepared after a comprehensive resource mapping study and a social survey conducted in destination, which became the baseline data for further planning and development and led to the designing of different Community Based Tourism (CBT) products. While encapsulating, community participation and women involvement, local ownership, leadership of local self government, and effective linkage of stakeholders made responsible tourism a sustainable strategy for inclusive development.     

Environmental Responsibility

Though Kumarakom is a pristine natural back water destination, it is a high time to preserve nature and to protect natural resources away from uncontrolled pollution. With the objective of making idyllic Kumarakom a ‘zero waste destination’, responsible tourism project launched an ecosystem regeneration programme, mass awareness campaign, clean drive and conversion of fallow land to cultivable land.

Environmental Protection: The strenuous efforts 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.

Mangrove Protection: As a back water destination, mangroves are the integral part of the existence of eco system. Considering its importance, special attention has been given to plantation and regeneration of mangroves. ‘Kandal Ammachi’ – an old lady in the village enticed media by her splendid efforts to plant and protect mangroves in hand with Responsible Tourism ventures. So far around 2500 mangroves planted under this initiative. Integrated with the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee programme, the villagers have also launched a campaign planting 1,500 mangrove plants.

Environmental Survey: A survey of energy consumption, water management, waste disposal mechanisms, and conservation practices by the hotels was undertaken by the researchers to assess the extent of green practices by the industry. Initial analyses of the survey of environment management practices in hotels showed that all the hotels surveyed monitors their electricity consumption, whereas 90% of the hotels monitored their water consumption, waste generation and waste management. Almost 90% of the hotels responded that they adopt an Energy management policy. 43% of the surveyed hotels responded that they conduct Energy Audits for their property. 90% of the hotels recorded their willingness to participate in the RT initiative, with 100% of the hotels surveyed showing willingness to purchase local products and to encourage tourists for village tours surrounding their properties.

The inference from the study was used for the development of green certification criteria and for the preparation of energy training module. Additionally, a survey on the efficiency of street lights prompted the authorities to replace a large number of ineffective bulbs.

Eco friendly Bags: As an alternative to non-degradable products, RT Cell promotes cloth bags, paper bags, arecanut plates, bamboo products, screw pane products in the destination. Two paper bag units employed 68 women at the destination ensure supply of eco friendly bags. 145 women are newly trained for the production of various eco friendly products.

Sustainable Agriculture Practices:  Awareness against excessive usage of pesticides and insecticides, filling of paddy fields, and promotion of organic farming produced better results at Kumarakom. A large number of farmers practice sustainable agriculture and fetch fair income from organic products. Biogas plants are installed in some 1,500 households. 

Albeit RT cell strives for protection of sacred groves, back water and natural eco system, an eternal solution to multiple environmental issues is remain elusive. In the back ground of overreaching carrying capacity and waste management concerns, policy makers think to shift the focus from numbers to the value tourists bring to the local economies. Adding more value to the commitments, recently concluded International Conference on Responsible Tourism at Kumarakom specifically called for the goal to make Kumarakom a “zero-waste destination”. Plans are already being chalked out for effective waste management and to sensitize the entire community, industry and visitors.

Awards and Recognitions

• National Award for Best Rural Tourism Project-2011-12, Ministry of Tourism, India
• PATA Award- 2011
• National Award for Best Responsible Tourism Project in India 2009-10, Ministry of Tourism, India

Conclusion

Responsible Tourism has now been accepted globally as a strategy for sustainable tourism development and a tool to boost local economies and livelihood. Inspired by the success stories of Kumarakom, different countries now incorporate Responsible Tourism in their tourism development policies to ensure community participation, micro enterprise development, and grass root level interventions to generate both employment and opportunities for the economically poor. The experiments of implementing Responsible Tourism at Kumarakom invariably proves that capability of grass root level leadership and local self government to ensure positive and meaningful involvement of the local community can bring spectacular difference in terms of local economic empowerment especially to the women community. While many leading tourism destinations find difficulty to balance the growth of tourism and local community, this initiative could be replicated to ensure sustainability of tourism development.

Reference

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(Paul V Mathew is a Research Scholar at School of Management Studies (SMS), Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT) and Prof. (Dr.) Moli P Koshy is a Professor at SMS, CUSAT. E-mail: paulvmathew.hr@gmail.com  and mollykoshy@cusat.ac.in )

Citation: Copyright@Responsible Tourism – A Strategy for Sustainable Development; Lessons from Kumarakom, Global Research Review, March 2014, Vol. 11, No. 3, 55-61.