Tourism Minister P.A. Mohamed Riyas has called upon the people of the State to be ambassadors of its tourism projects.
“We need to change our attitude towards incorporating large-scale tourism projects here,” he said, opening the Beypore International Responsible Tourism and Textile Art Fest as part of the Beypore International Water Fest at Nallur near Feroke on December 27. “Kerala has made a huge leap in women’s participation in tourism. With the help of UN Women, we are the first to come up with a gender auditing in tourism, and Kadalundi panchayat is leading the way,” he said, adding that the Beypore fest would be held every year.
The Minister alleged that an out-of-the-State lobby was campaigning against innovative tourism projects in Kerala over fear of losing their business. He also came down heavily on the media for negative publicity about tourism projects in the State. “Karnataka teams backed out of various activities of the Beypore fest owing to media reports that COVID-19 was spreading fast in Kerala,” he added.
Mr. Riyas said a plan was in pipeline for the development of beach tourism in Kozhikode. “Kozhikode city has a 20-km-long coastline. There are immense possibilities,” he added.
The Responsible Tourism and Textile Art Fest is being held for the first time in Kerala and features unique textile varieties from various parts of the country. Bandhani and Kutch artists from Gujarat, Jamdani artists from West Bengal, and tapestry artists from Telangana are presenting live demonstrations. There are also demonstrations of pottery, clay modelling, wood carving, weaving, coir making, embroidery, screw pine art, metal work art, and puppetry.
The festival also features display of agri-farm tourism products under the Responsible Tourism Mission. Cultural programmes are held every day from 6 p.m. onwards. The fest will conclude on December 30.
