As the 2020 edition of World Tourism Day is being celebrated on Sunday with the theme ‘Tourism and rural development’, the unique role tourism plays in providing opportunities outside big cities and preserving cultural and natural heritage are in focus, states UNWTO (World Tourism Organization).
This year’s celebration of the day comes at a time when rural communities struggle with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and UNWTO member-states and stakeholders look at tourism to drive recovery.
For Kerala, the thrust on rural tourism in the wake of UNWTO’s policy is significant as tourism has emerged as the biggest employer and as a lifeline, offering the youth a chance to earn a living without having to migrate either within their countries or abroad.
The new form of tourism that will emerge post-COVID-19 will stress on seeking experiences. In this perspective, rural tourism can play a major role in providing unique natural, cultural, and social experiences to travellers in the serene and clean setting of villages.
Mixed format
“The most sustainable way of developing rural tourism should be a mixed format — retaining and protecting the existing livelihood of the rural population and equipping them to earn extra income through tourism,” says Chief Executive Officer, Intimice Hospitalities, Dileep Kumar P.I.
The setting up of Destination Management Organisation in special purpose vehicle (SPV) model proposed in the National Tourism Policy is a welcome development that will further strengthen rural tourism.
In the case of Kerala, he says District Tourism Promotion Councils (DTPCs) should undergo a complete transformation to take up that responsibility. The Responsible Tourism Mission can play a major role too. Since rural tourism will be developing around small and medium investors and farmers, government support is crucial, he says.
Development through tourism can also keep the rural communities alive. “The potential of rural tourism is yet to be exploited by Kerala Tourism.
Local village activities, events, festivals, art forms, and handicrafts should be promoted as foreign tourists are interested in them and in seeing the village life,” says P.J. Varghese, who was the first to commence a village tour for foreign tourists at Ithipuzha in 1992-93.
Tours linking these aspects of rural tourism and other destinations can be chalked out and it will check the mass tourism concentrated on beaches, hill stations, and backwaters. “It will help to extend the stay of the visitors and to thereby bring repeat tourists,” he adds.
For the first time in the 40-year history of World Tourism Day, the official celebration will be hosted by a group of countries.
Nations from the Mercosur bloc (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay, with Chile joining with observer status) will be the joint hosts.