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Local self-government bodies in Kerala are all set to become the most important entrepreneurs of tourism with the launch of the ‘Destination Challenge’ project that encourages civic administrations to locate and develop at least one travel destination within their boundary, Tourism Minister Mr P. A. Mohamed Riyas said. He inaugurated the STREET project at Thrithala in Palakkad, marking the state-level launch of the Kerala Tourism initiative.
“Destination Challenge aims to explore locations that have tourism potential but have remained ignored,” he said. “Maintaining such locations by ensuring that they are income-earning will make the newly-developed places good assets.”
The minister said the aim was to make tourism projects people-centric by involving the local population. “For that, the Responsible Tourism Mission’s STREET project will be a catalyst. The administrators of such endeavours will also be their protectors,” he said.
The Speaker of the Kerala Legislative Assembly, Mr M. B. Rajesh, who is the MLA from Thrithala, said tourism was no more about just seeing but has instead become experiential. “The new attitude is to see tourism as a mix of the arts, culture, life and agriculture,” he added.
STREET, which is the acronym for Sustainable, Tangible, Responsible, Experiential, Ethnic, Tourism hubs, is implemented in 10 locations in Kerala, with UNWTO’s ‘Tourism for Inclusive Growth’ as the slogan. In Palakkad, the spot comprises the adjacent villages of Thrithala and Pattithara. The street project will be implemented in Kadalundy, Thrithala, Pattithara, Valiyaparamba, Chekadi (Pulppally panchayat), Maravanthuruth, Manchira (Aimanam panchayat), Pinarayi, Anjarakkandy and Kanthalloor.
The STREET project will bring in tourism initiatives that suit the culture and topography of the region. These include green streets, cultural streets, ethnic cuisine/food streets, village life experience/experiential tourism streets, agri-tourism streets, water streets and arts streets.
The project, under the Responsible Tourism Mission, will ensure that its implementation retains the normal life of the villages and maintains its ecology well. The idea is to introduce travellers to rustic Kerala while also fetching income for the residents.
To more about the STREET project, check https://www.keralatourism.org/responsible-tourism/street-project
