'God's own country' to welcome only responsible tourism investors
Updated: Jun 17, 2013 04:24:39pm
Thiruvananthapuram, Jun 17 (KNN) In order to enhance tourism in ‘God’s own country,’ the Kerala government has launched a commercial seaplane service from the Ashtamudi Lake in Kollam and a houseboat service for backwater districts, but ended having a ‘blanket welcome’ policy for tourism investors.
It will have a warm welcome only for those investors who are willing to be ‘responsible tourism’-compliant. There will be no government support for ventures that have no responsible tourism (RT) classification.
The RT classification was launched in February 2011 but became operational by the end of May 2013.
The classification applies to tourist accommodation providers such as hotels, resorts, heritage homes, ayurveda resorts, serviced villas, houseboats and homestays.
Speaking at the inauguration of the International Conference on Responsible Tourism, the tourism secretary said that all hotels and resorts in Kumarakom would be declared RT-complaint on June-27.
Capital and power subsidies would be limited to RT-compliant units unlike now, when any new tourism unit was entitled to capital subsidy and power tariff concessions, said a media report quoting him.
The criteria for classification was developed on the basis of the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria (GSTC).
The classification divides total points of 1000 among four responsibility categories: sustainable management (200); socio cultural responsibility (250); economic responsibility (250); environmental responsibility (300). Properties that have scores between 750– 1000, 600–749 and 500–599 will be classified as Platinum, Gold and Silver respectively.
On June-2, Kerala chief minister had launched a commercial seaplane service from the Ashtamudi Lake in Kollam, following which, the new houseboat service was introduced to help the tourists discover the backwater districts in Kerala.
After getting all the necessary clearances, the state government has now launched the service as it believes that the tourism potential of the state is still unexplored.
It is estimated that around 7.3 lakh foreign tourists and 93.8 lakh domestic travellers visit the state every year. The government-owned Pawan Hans, which prepared the detailed project report (DPR) for the seaplane project, points out that apart from the tourism market, the seaplane operators can look forward to the leisure and fun market for joyrides. Special photography flights and emergency passenger evacuation flights, amongst other services, are the other sources of business for seaplanes, said a report. (KNN)
It will have a warm welcome only for those investors who are willing to be ‘responsible tourism’-compliant. There will be no government support for ventures that have no responsible tourism (RT) classification.
The RT classification was launched in February 2011 but became operational by the end of May 2013.
The classification applies to tourist accommodation providers such as hotels, resorts, heritage homes, ayurveda resorts, serviced villas, houseboats and homestays.
Speaking at the inauguration of the International Conference on Responsible Tourism, the tourism secretary said that all hotels and resorts in Kumarakom would be declared RT-complaint on June-27.
Capital and power subsidies would be limited to RT-compliant units unlike now, when any new tourism unit was entitled to capital subsidy and power tariff concessions, said a media report quoting him.
The criteria for classification was developed on the basis of the Global Sustainable Tourism Criteria (GSTC).
The classification divides total points of 1000 among four responsibility categories: sustainable management (200); socio cultural responsibility (250); economic responsibility (250); environmental responsibility (300). Properties that have scores between 750– 1000, 600–749 and 500–599 will be classified as Platinum, Gold and Silver respectively.
On June-2, Kerala chief minister had launched a commercial seaplane service from the Ashtamudi Lake in Kollam, following which, the new houseboat service was introduced to help the tourists discover the backwater districts in Kerala.
After getting all the necessary clearances, the state government has now launched the service as it believes that the tourism potential of the state is still unexplored.
It is estimated that around 7.3 lakh foreign tourists and 93.8 lakh domestic travellers visit the state every year. The government-owned Pawan Hans, which prepared the detailed project report (DPR) for the seaplane project, points out that apart from the tourism market, the seaplane operators can look forward to the leisure and fun market for joyrides. Special photography flights and emergency passenger evacuation flights, amongst other services, are the other sources of business for seaplanes, said a report. (KNN)
Loading...
