Tourism

Acclaims and Awards received during 2015

In 2015, Kerala’s tourism sector has received several awards and citations for tourism related activities. These awards are a direct result of the
concerted efforts of both the public and private sector working together to take Kerala’s tourism
industry to a world class level.

  • PATA Award
    • PATA CEO Challenge Top Destination Award for Thekkady, 2015
    • PATA GOLD AWARD for Heritage and Culture – MuZris Heritage Project, 2015
  • Conde NasteTraveller Award
    • Favourite Indian leisure Destination Kerala (Runner-up)
  • NATIONAL TOURISM AWARDS
    • Most Innovative use of Technology/Best Website
    • Best Tourism Film
    • Best Responsible Tourism Project
    • Best Tourism Brochure
  • Golden City Gate Award – ITB Berlin
    • Gold – Film – Responsible Tourism Film
  • FITUR
    • Best Stand Award for Kerala Tourism Pavilion

The important cultural initiatives undertaken by the Department of Tourism during 2015-16 are as follows:

  • ‘Onam’: Onam Celebration 2015 was celebrated from August 25 to August 31
  • Joint Initiative with Cultural Department to promote traditional arts and festivals
  • Nishagandhi festival: The only event of its kind that captures the spirit of the season. It is held at the sprawling Kanakakkunnu palace grounds during January every year. In last year the festival include a food festival, National level seminar on music, dance festival and Kathakali fest for 7 days.
  • UTSAVAM- the Kerala Arts festival for the promotion of local cultural programmes conducted in December for a period of 14 days in selected major four tourist destinations

SOCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS OF TOURISM

Tourism is a double-edged sword. It is true that tourism provides considerable economic benefits to a country. The multiplier effects of tourism both with respect to income and employment has always enriched the economic development of a region. But its rapid expansion can also be responsible for adverse environmental, as well as socio-cultural, impacts. The two main areas of environmental impact of tourism are pressure on natural resources and damage to ecosystems. Likewise, traditional cultural and art forms – dance, music, festival celebrations, and handicrafts – that are promoted for tourism development would necessarily have to undergo some changes so as to be interpretable and presentable to a different audience. Only a very niche and discerning target group could accept traditional art and culture in their pure and esoteric forms. Hence, the initiatives to transform these kinds of cultural and traditional forms to equip them to meet the present requirements of the industry will sometimes influence the originality of these performances. The development activities and investment patterns associated with the tourism industry will also have both positive and negative social impacts on the society. Tourism is both a contributor to climate change and victim of it. Warmer temperature, rising sea levels, coastal erosion and biodiversity loss threaten tourisms very future in many locations.

Since most of our tourism oriented activities in the State are centred around natural products like beaches, backwaters and hill stations, the scope for increasing pressure on these resources is high. Tourism affects environment in following ways:

  • Tourism is a land-intensive activity. Rapid growth of tourism activities ultimately increase pressure on the land which further leads to speculation of land prices, reclamation of wet land on a vast scale, and pressure to flout building rules.
  • Increasing demand for infrastructural facilities like roads, electricity, and water disturbs the natural eco system.
  • Generation and accumulation of wastes in tourist destinations leads to unhygienic environment.
  • Deforestation and increased carrying capacity on the most fragile eco-tourism destinations in the State harms the environment.
  • Ecological damage, including land and water areas, wetlands, and plant and animal habitats in general, is caused due to over exploitation of natural resources.

Provision of a clean, safe and secure environment is a prerequisite to attract tourist inflow into the State. The state has to maintain a balance between development of tourism and environmental protection to minimise the adverse impact of tourism related activities on environment.

Tourism as a Driver of Peace

Travel and Tourism is now being increasingly recognised for its ability to drive peace, security, and understanding. Though it is widely argued that travel promotes cultural interchange and understanding, which brings people together and in turn creates more peaceful societies, there is little empirical evidence to support these views. The World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), for the first time, has partnered with the Institute of Economics and Peace (IEP) to explore the links between tourism and peace. The research shows that countries with a stronger tourism sector tend to be more peaceful.

  • An open and sustainable tourism sector means a higher level of positive peace: namely the attitudes, institutions, and structures that create and sustain peaceful societies.
  • Countries with an open and sustainable tourism sector are more likely to enjoy higher levels of positive peace in the future.
  • The more sustainable a country’s tourism sector the lower the country’s level of violence and conflict is likely to be.
  • In non-conflict-affected countries, tourism is resilient to increases in violence and conflict.
  • Tourism is resilient to increases in terrorism, even when terrorism is targeted at tourists.

The Institute for Economics and Peace considers three measures of peacefulness: Global Peace Index which measures the negative peace in a country (the absence of violence); Positive Peace Index denotes the positive peace, or the levels of institutions and attitudes in place to foster and promote peace; and Global Terrorism Index measures the negative impact of terrorism on lives lost, injuries and property damage.

Increases in tourism sustainability can lead to improvements of the functioning of governments as they respond to demand and aim to create a welcoming environment for further tourism expansion. In Nepal, the government response to increased influxes of tourists to Pokhara led to the implementation of Codes of Conduct for Peace Responsive Tourism to guide the behaviours of all stakeholders. The Election Period Tourism Operating procedures in Kenya, set up in response to tourist fluctuations around election time, provides a platform for stakeholders to work together to promote and maintain peace during periods of heightened political tensions.

It is seen that as tourism grows and the tourist sector develops, a whole host of skills become necessary for local populations including languages and business skills, driving human capital development. In Namibia, the development of the tourism sector has led to local communities developing skills such as languages and trades such as cooking, leading to increased human capital development. ‘Township tourism’ in South Africa has led to both informal and formal skills acquisition by community members in Alexandra township, Johannesburg. Increased tourism may lead to increases in the flow of information, both within a country and across borders, as people share experiences and ideas. In Northern Ireland, political tourism has seen an increase in people travelling to the region to learn more about the conflict and history, which has in turn enabled understanding and information sharing.

Changes in relations with neighbours may also be affected by tourism. At an individual level, travelling to neighbouring countries may promote understanding and tolerance of the other. At the state level, travelling to neighbouring countries may promote mutually beneficial economic gain. For example, Israeli eco-tourists visiting Jordan had positively altered their perceptions of Jordanian institutions and culture, when compared to a control group that did not travel. Similarly, visits to Mt. Gumnang by South Koreans positively influence their views of North Korea, both at the individual level, and at the national level.

Sustainable Tourism

Sustainable tourism is the key to future development in this sector. 2017 has been declared by the United Nations as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development. The important initiatives undertaken by the State Government towards sustainable tourism development are as follows:

  • Responsible Tourism. Responsible Tourism (RT) is a pro-poor tourism approach initiated by the Tourism Department. In RT, tourism is planned and implemented with the involvement of all stakeholders including the local people and takes care of economic, social and environmental aspects of tourism. The government has earmarked an amount of . 1.00 crore for this programme in the Financial Year 2015-16.
  • Kerala Waste Free Destination Scheme. The campaign “Kerala Waste Free Destination (KWFD)” is an initiative of the Department of Tourism involving the participation of local bodies, NGOs, Self Help Groups, educational institutions and tourism industry to provide a clean environment. The total plan outlay for the scheme during the 12th plan period was 18.00 crores.
  • Conservation, preservation and promotion of Heritage, Environment and Culture. This scheme is envisaged for promoting traditional fairs, festivals and local cultural programmes. The government had allotted 6.5 crores for this scheme during the financial year 2015-16 which increased to 14.65 crores by 2016-17.
Tourism
Tourism and Economic Development Recent Trends in Foreign Tourist Arrivals Domestic Tourist Arrivals Economic Impact of Tourism Acclaims and Awards received during 2015 Focus Areas for Sustaining Tourism as a Growth Driver
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