Madhya Pradesh to sign MoU with Kerala to promote 'responsible tourism'

Madhya Pradesh is set to launch Responsible Tourism (RT) on the lines of the Kerala government's initiatives that strive to make tourism a tool for the development of villages and local communities.

Kerala Tourism's RT Mission will implement the project in the central Indian state under a 16-point programme and an official agreement in this regard is scheduled to be signed on January 13, said the Kerala government in a statement.

On the eve of the ceremony, a high-level delegation from Bhopal will begin a week's tour of Kerala to gather first-hand knowledge about RT in the state. The 13-member team is to be led by Madhya Pradesh Tourism and Culture Department Minister Usha Thakur.

"A few states in the country are implementing the Kerala-model RT, but Madhya Pradesh will be the first to sign a pact with the government. The nodal officers for the project will be Madhya Pradesh Tourism Board Director Manoj Kumar Singh and Kerala RT Mission coordinator K Rupeshkumar. Once the delegation from Bhopal returns, a team of Kerala RT Mission will make a visit to Madhya Pradesh," the statement reads.

Kerala's Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran expressed pleasure over other states emulating Kerala's RT model. "Of late, other states also have evinced interest in launching the Kerala-model RT. We will be happy to cooperate with them in implementing RT as a social development initiative," he added.

Kerala Tourism Secretary R George said the RT Mission has 20,000 units and 109,000 beneficiaries in Kerala. It has given local people a combined income of Rs 38 crore from the state's tourism sector.

According to the Kerala government's statement, RT in Kerala emerged as a state mission in October 2017 from what began as a project in four centres of Kottayam district. From then on, the endeavour which strives for social, economic and environmental responsibilities has been winning several national and international honours including the World Travel Market (WTM) award 2020.

The Kerala Tourism's MoU with Madhya Pradesh features a 16-point programme-- implement Kerala's RT projects in Madhya Pradesh in ways that suit that state, to help Madhya Pradesh chart its RT masterplan, to ready the human resources to implement the project, conduct training projects, list the criteria for the formation of district tourism promotion councils, locate sustained tourism projects so as to carry out RT projects, formulate social and economic security measures, help in gradation of hotels, resorts and homestays and form tourism clubs.

( With inputs from ANI )