Kerala's gender inclusive & women-friendly tourism policy soon

(UNI) Kerala Tourism Minister PA Mohamed Riyas today said the state government will go ahead with its action plan to support newcomers, especially women, to the tourism sector, aligning with the vision of inclusive and sustainable development of tourism.

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The Minister was delivering the inaugural address to the state-level consultation workshop to bring out a gender inclusive and women-friendly tourism policy as part of the women-friendly tourism initiative here.

The workshop was organised by the department of tourism in collaboration with Kerala Responsible Tourism (RT) Mission Society and UN Women India.

The two major objectives of the gender-inclusive project that took off in 2022 were to create women-friendly tourism centres and create a network of women enterprises in tourism sector, he said.

“It is vital to extend support to the newcomers to the tourism sector, especially women, to ensure that they flourish in the completive ecosystem,” Riyas said.

“Initially, around 17,631 women had joined the project with diverse enterprises and services. These included exclusive women tour units, homestays, souvenir units and services like community tour leaders and tour operators. After imparting training to them, tourism activities are being conducted in a coordinated manner,” he said.