Kerala Tourism will soon launch a mobile app to further strengthen the country’s first ‘women-friendly tourism’ initiative launched by the State government to turn the State’s tourism sector gender inclusive.
Responsible Tourism (RT) Mission, the nodal agency for implementing the ‘women-friendly tourism’ project, has been asked to prepare the content for the app, which will have all location-specific information and images, including the socio-cultural features of various places.
The State rolled out the project in October last in tune with the U.N. Women’s ‘Gender Inclusive Tourism’ concept, which envisages women playing key roles in the tourism sector. It also aims at offering a variety of women-friendly tourism products and packages.
Second phase
The mobile app will mark the commencement of the second phase activities of the project. Apart from providing information on tourism centres, the app will have the details of women-friendly tourism products and packages, resorts, hotels, women enterprises, recognised tour operators, women tour operators, travel agencies, homestays, and women tour guides.
Information in the app would include women-led handicraft and souvenir production and sales units, amenities such as rest rooms, camping sites, licensed houseboats, caravan parks and ethnic cuisine units in various places, festivals, and experiential and adventure packages, said RT Mission State Coordinator K. Rupeshkumar.
The RT Mission has started a massive information gathering exercise for the app, besides studying the safety of women in tourism centres.
Training
Around 1,800 women have been given training in various areas under the project. A training will be held in July for elected women representatives from the State.
“We are living in a world where it has become a trend for women to travel to far-off places in groups of their own or individually. Creating a conducive ambience for women tourists in the State is a policy priority of the government. The app on women-friendly tourism project will make the visit to Kerala more pleasant and hassle-free for women,” Tourism Minister P.A. Mohamed Riyas has said.
The project that envisages the participation of 1.5 lakh women from the State is being implemented with the support of various organisations, including UN Women. It has set a target of creating 10,000 women ventures and 30,000 jobs in the tourism sector.
