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Kerala has introduced Responsible Tourism (RT) classification for hotels and resorts, giving importance to environmental protection and ecological restoration through tourism.
Launching the RT Classification Software and online application portal for standardization schemes at a function in Thiruvananthapuram, Tourism Minister Mr. P. A. Mohamed Riyas said the initiative based on sustainable management, socio-cultural, economic and environmental responsibility is a role model for the entire nation. The minister also released a short video on the standardization schemes. The standardization ensures that the processes in Kerala Tourism follow a set of prescribed common standards.
Hotels and resorts will be classified based on their compliance with the policies of the RT Mission, which focus on sustainability. Their sustainability, environment friendliness and socio-cultural involvement will be evaluated through a set of questions, State RT Mission Coordinator K. Roopesh Kumar said. Various factors such as stopping the use of plastics, encouraging local employment, sourcing raw materials locally, assisting local artists and artisans, transgenders and the differently-abled, practising gender equality, environment audit and water conservation will be considered.
There will be a point system to rate the properties, and classify them based on the points they score out of a total of 1,000. The properties that secure up to 300 points will be classified as RT Silver, those up to 500 points as RT Gold and those above 500 as RT Diamond. Besides, there will be an RT Green classification. The properties that earn more than 80% points in the environment category will get RT Green classification.
This is much different from the conventional classification where the size of rooms and additional infrastructure at the properties are taken into consideration.
The registration has to be done online and a society conducts physical inspections before certifying the properties. The certification has a validity of three years, but the society will review the certifications periodically and cancel them those if hotels failed to comply with the norms.
To know more about the classification, check : https://www.keralatourism.org/responsible-tourism/rt-classification/29
