The Responsible Tourism (RT) project of Kerala Tourism won the Global Vision award 2022 instituted by U.S.-based travelandleisure.com. The New York-headquartered website gives away the honour to individuals, companies, organisations and tourist centres that implement tourism and transportation projects that are experiential, sustainable and environment-friendly. A 14-member jury announced the Travel + Leisure awards totalling five, based on a scrutiny of applications from across the globe.
Kerala, which implemented RT from October 2017, has been functioning on an exemplary model that enables tourism to encourage poverty eradication, women empowerment, social progress and agriculture practices. RT ensures that the place is ideal to live and visit. Its beneficiaries include local artistes, artisans and farmers, the jury said. Tourism Minister P.A. Mohamed Riyas said the post-COVID world accorded unprecedented importance to experiential tourism focused on villages. The award highlighted the global acceptance of the State’s RT Mission’s merits for its exemplary work, he added.
