Responsible tourism moves to Varkala, Poovar

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:For over a decade, Responsible Tourism in Kovalam meant supplying vegetables and milk and poultry to reluctant resorts in the beach destination.  Now, the Responsible Tourism Mission is planning to broaden the appeal of the RT Movement. Henceforth, it will not be restricted to Kovalam. Nearby Poovar and the 'slightly far' Varkala will also be made part of the RT movement. And along with increasing local vegetable production, the movement will also attempt to revive lost art forms.

Farmers units will continue to supply vegetables and milk to resorts. "But now there will be a slight shift in emphasis. Though local production activities will continue, there will be a big push to create local accommodation units in these areas," the RT state coordinator K Rupesh Kumar said. In other words, the idea is to create as much homestays as possible in Kovalam, Poovar and Varkala. "It is not that there are no homestays in these areas. But we want professionally run homestays," Mr Kumar said. It has also been found that many homestays functioning in Kovalam have not been officially registered.

"These units can be monitored only if they are registered. Otherwise they could damage a destination's reputation. So the strategy would to be to encourage the setting up of homestays but in a professional and legal manner," Mr Kumar said. Locals will be offered training for the purpose. Their apprehensions about getting a license will also be addressed. The Tourism Department will also extend marketing support to these homestays, like creating websites for them and linking them with tour operators. The RT Mission is also planning to revive forgotten art forms in the coastal parts of the district.

The support of the industry is crucial for any RT plan to succeed. The local community-industry linkage in Kovalam, however, has generally been very fragile. "The Department could never assure us regular supply and quality," the executive manager of a top resort in Kovalam said. However, the resorts had hotels in the area had created space within their premises for the sale of locally-made handicrafts and souvenirs.