THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Tourism Minister Kadakampally Surendran said the tourism police in the state would function as tour guides and friends of tourists, providing them with the best travelling experience. As part of enhancing the infrastructure facilities at tourist destinations in the state, the tourism police would also be provided with better facilities and amenities.
The minister was speaking after inaugurating the closing ceremony of the ‘Tourism Police Training programme’ organised by Kerala Tourism in association with Kerala Institute of Tourism and Travel Studies (KITTS), in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday.
“The intervention of the tourism police will help the government in the realm of tourism,” he added. The Tourism Department has been working towards attracting vacationers from all corners of the world. Under the tourism policy, Kerala Tourism has been implementing reforms to accelerate the growth of tourism.
KITTS won a UNWTO award for the best institution in the tourism sector. Kadakampally handed over the award to Kerala Tourism secretary Rani George at the function.
The Tourism secretary said, “Under the aegis of the state government, we aim to implement the plans of tourism policy in a timely manner. The plan is to create green, clean and safe tourism centres with international safety standards. The police training program was organised with this intent.”
As many as 161 tourist policemen were trained in six batches. The minister distributed
certificates for the successful completion of the training programme.
Also present were Kerala Tourism director P Bala Kiran, IG P Vijayan, KITTS director Rajashree Ajith and ATTOI president Aneesh Kumar.