The Hindu : Kerala / Thiruvananthapuram News : `Responsible Tourism is a movement of continuity'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Feb 04, 2007
ePaper


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Kerala

Kerala - Thiruvananthapuram

`Responsible Tourism is a movement of continuity'

S. Anil Radhakrishnan

"Each stakeholder has a role to play. Once they demonstrate their job, they have the right to criticise."

Harold Goodwin

The expert in `Responsible Tourism' in a chat with

S. Anil Radhakrishnan says Kerala is showing the political will to pursue the agenda of Responsible Tourism.

Kerala has the potential to become the first `Responsible Tourism' destination in Asia if all sections of people and stakeholders of the burgeoning tourism industry jointly pursue the agenda, says expert on Responsible Tourism Harold Goodwin.

``It is heartening to note that there is evidence of political will in Kerala to pursue the agenda of Responsible Tourism'', Dr. Goodwin, who was in the capital to participate in `Better Together', a two-day workshop on Responsible Tourism organised by Kerala Tourism, told The Hindu.

Dr. Goodwin, a Professor of Responsible Tourism Management, Metropolitan University, Leeds, U. K, has been involved in campaign for Responsible Tourism since 1995.

``A time frame cannot be fixed for turning a destination into a Responsible Tourism destination. It is not a matter of declaration. It is what people do. It is a movement of continuity'', says Dr. Goodwin.

Dr. Goodwin, who chaired the first International Conference on Responsible Tourism in South Africa that resulted in Cape Town Declaration, says the problems faced by Kerala are not unique.

``The problem of Responsible Tourism is that every people will be quick to say that somebody else is responsible. Each stakeholder has a role to play. Once they demonstrate their job, they have the right to criticise'', he says.

Dr. Goodwin says eco tourism is only a small part of the tourism industry. The effort is to tackle the whole industry and to make it responsible.

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