THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala Institute of Tourism and Travel Studies (KIITTS) will host a national conference on responsible tourism practices at its campus from March 25 to 27. Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran will inaugurate the event. UNWTO chief of programme and coordination Philippe Lemaistre will be the chief guest.
The first session on March 25 is on “Kerala model of responsible tourism”. The speakers will be V Venu, Principal Secretary, Tourism, P Balakiran, Kerala Tourism director and Rupeshkumar K, Kerala’s responsible tourism’s field coordinator.
Speakers at the session on “Kerala initiatives on responsible tourism” are Jose Dominic, managing director, CGH Earth, Abraham George, president, Kerala Travel Mart, Gopinath Parayil, Founder, The Blue Yonder, Vijayan, Ezhikara Pokkali and Organic farming initiative’s secretary and Vinod Nambiar, director, Vayali Folklore Group director.
The session on “Indian initiatives on responsible tourism” will be attended by Suman Billa, joint secretary, Union Minister of Tourism, Hari Ranjan Rao, Madhya Pradesh Tourism secretary, Samir Sinha, additional principal chief conservator of forests, Uttarakhand, Nimai Lila Das, sustainability officer, Govardhan Eco village, Tsewang Namgail, director, Snow Leopard Conservancy Indian Trust, Neha Arora, founder, Planet Abled, Raj Basu, convenor, Help Tourism Association for Conservation and Tourism, Deepa Krishnan, founder, Mumbai Magic and Tejas Joseph, associate director, Responsible Tourism, Orange County Resorts and Hotels. The participants will make a field visit to learn about the responsible tourism initiatives at Kumarakom.