Old wine?

A few days ago, Kerala Tourism announced a new venture called SAPARYA. Anchored by Tourism Resorts Kerala Ltd, one of Kerala Tourism’s many satellites, the project is about ‘Synergising Actions through Participatory Approach’. From what I can gather, it seeks to put community involvement at the heart of tourism development in Kerala.

That is a very laudable objective. But most of the literature I’ve read about the venture describes it as “novel”, “pioneering” , “unique”, “the first such project in the world” and so on. These descriptions leave me faintly uncomfortable and quite puzzled.

Uncomfortable because claims about SAPARYA’s uniqueness sound hollow. Community involvement in tourism is an idea that’s been around for quite some time now. So SAPARYA is certainly not the first to venture down that road. It’s also not clear so far how this project is unique or different from similar ventures that have been launched across the world.

And I’m puzzled because I thought Kerala Tourism’s Responsible Tourism initiative that was launched with much fanfare in 2007-2008 is about involving local communities in tourism and ensuring that local communities benefit from tourism. So how does SAPARYA differ from the Responsible Tourism initiative? Or is SAPARYA replacing Kerala Tourism’s Responsible Tourism initiative? And if so, what went wrong with Responsible Tourism in Kerala?

On the whole, the new project raises lots of questions. Now if we could only get some meaningful answers.

Responsible Traveler checks in

Responsible tourism is an approach to travel that’s been around for a while now.

Its appeal has been growing — leisurely but steadily — perhaps because of its emphasis on “creating better places for people to live in and better places for people to visit”. A tenet that allows people and destinations the flexibility to choose practices and strategies that suit the local needs and environment.

In India, a motley crew of hotel and travel companies, home stays, NGOs and the odd State tourism board have piloted responsible tourism, with varying levels of commitment and success. At the same time, Indian travellers too seem to be showing a growing interest in ‘ecotourism’ if not responsible tourism.

And now, MakeMyTrip.com, India’s oldest and, arguably, largest travel portal has dipped its toes into responsible tourism with the Responsible Traveler Web site.

Responsible Traveler is positioned as “an extension” of MakeMyTrip’s corporate social responsibility activities. At the same time, it seems that the company also “recognized the need for an ecologically-conscious community of travellers, who love travelling and their planet, equally; and thus the forum Responsible Traveler was born.”

So what is it that Responsible Traveler will offer? The site itself declares: “From the time you start planning your vacation to the moment you step back into your condo; Responsible Traveler makes sure that it gives you the right ideas, tips and advice to help make your travel eco-friendly, with bare minimum impact on the environment.”

For the moment though, the Web site seems a little raw, without a voice of its own; like a work in progress. Actually, I guess it is still a work in progress as it seems to have gone live only a few weeks ago.

However, the possibilities are tremendous. At the very least, Responsible Traveler could become the definitive Indian or South Asian resource on responsible travel. Commercially, the site has the potential to evolve into an online responsible travel company; one that allows travellers to book responsible holidays in India and South Asia.

It would, in fact, be a logical move for Responsible Traveler to become a link between travellers and hotels and home stays that practice responsible tourism. Consumer interest in this space is growing and it currently has just about one player — Travel To Care. With MakeMyTrip’s knowledge and experience of the market, coupled with its marketing muscle, Responsible Traveler has the potential to grow into a game changer for responsible tourism in India and South Asia.

A forest’s tale

Forests are slowly sprouting across north Kerala.

A couple of years ago, the Nila Foundation, Kodeeri Nature Camp and The Blue Yonder‘Traveller’s Forest’ and hoped that it would increase green cover in the region and thus contribute to eco-restoration of the area. decided to plant and nurture trees in a large plot of land along the Nila river in Kerala’s Malappuram district. They called it the

The Traveller’s Forest is also an effort to involve travellers and the tourism industry in “greening the globe”. So tourists visiting the area are encouraged to plant a sapling to celebrate their visit. What, however, distinguishes this ‘greening’ initiative from many other similar ventures is that the saplings don’t simply wither away; instead, they are taken care of by the guardians of the Traveller’s Forest.

And though it’s called the Traveller’s Forest, Gopinath (Gopi) Parayil, who is the soul of the Nila Foundation and The Blue Yonder, says that the trees will be planted whether or not the travellers come. People, especially those from the area, are also encouraged to mark important events in their life by planting a sapling: so saplings are planted to celebrate birthdays, weddings, anniversaries and so on.

Now, interest in the Traveller’s Forest is growing. A few weeks ago, Gopi, spoke at the MES College in Ponnani. Soon after that the principal of the college offered to set aside an acre of land on the college campus for setting up a local Traveller’s Forest. And though much needs to be done to translate this into reality, it is an encouraging step.

As Gopi puts it in a blog post: “If only 10% of our school and college management decides to follow M.E.S Ponnani college, Kerala would be a better place to live in and visit!” Can’t but agree with that.

It also is a small example of how responsible tourism and businesses that operate on responsible tourism principles can make a difference.

Disclaimer: Gopi is a good friend and someone whose work I admire.

SATTE thoughts

Speaking at the responsible tourism workshops at SATTE 2010 was, to use a cliché, like preaching to the converted. For most, if not all, the people who attended believe that ‘responsibility’ is the future of tourism and travel. Yet, the deliberations of all three panels and the discussions that followed re-emphasised the conviction that responsible tourism or responsible travel is the way to go.

The workshops also drove home the point that responsibility can be profitable; that businesses can be responsible and also make money. This assertion was the thread that ran through the segment on ‘responsibility and profitability’. What I do wish, though, is that this segment had featured someone from cgh Earth, which went the responsible way many moons ago — perhaps even before ‘responsible’ had entered the business and tourism lexicon, especially in India. For each time I hear the cgh story, I learn something new about how responsible businesses can also be successful businesses.

At the end of the day though, responsible tourism is about each one of us taking responsibility for our actions. We simply cannot outsource responsibility. Not a new idea, but nevertheless one worth thinking about, internalising and practising.