Responsible Tourism Kerala (RT) has been recognized globally for empowering women and boosting the rural economy through sustainable and inclusive initiatives, Tourism Minister PA Mohamed Riyas said here on Wednesday. He was speaking after launching the five-day Kerala Responsible Tourism Festival at the Kanakakkunnu Palace grounds in the city.
With 26,000 RT units across Kerala, about 1.5 million families are direct beneficiaries of various RT Mission projects across the state, the minister said.
The fact that 80% of the RT units are run by women shows the success of Kerala’s gender inclusive tourism and the state’s commitment to the UN policy on gender inclusive tourism, Mr. Riyas said. In 2025-26, the state budget has earmarked an amount of ₹ 4 crore for women entrepreneurs to provide loans up to ₹ 15 crore at 4% interest rate, he said. He also added that 50% of the total budget allocated to the RT mission is earmarked for women.
Responsible tourism has also been integral to the accelerated growth of Kerala Tourism in recent years. Kerala Tourism has won around 14 national and international awards for its RT initiatives, Mr. Riyas added. The RT mission has enabled travelers to experience diverse experiences such as agri-farm tourism, food tourism and projects that combine tourism with cultural and environmental conservation that elevate rural destinations like Kanthalloor and Beypore to the global level, the minister noted.
Market support
The five-day festival aims to provide strong market support to RT units, facilitate them to sell their products, and also seek new business opportunities in cooperation with tour operators, vloggers, resort owners, etc.
At the event, Women Development Corporation CEO Bindu VC and Rupeshkumar K., CEO Kerala Responsible Tourism Mission Society exchanged a memorandum of understanding for the implementation of a scheme to promote women’s interests in RT units. The festival serves as a venue for RT units from across Kerala to showcase their initiatives to take tourism to the local level as a sustainable and inclusive economic activity with the active participation of local communities.
The festival, which has around 120 stalls with products made by members and artisans of RT units, displays a variety of traditional products and artefacts bearing the imprint of RT units from different parts of Kerala. Offering full course meals and delicacies from different parts of Kerala at the festival, food stalls promise visitors a rare opportunity to relish authentic cuisine from north Kasaragod to the state capital.
Published – 11 Feb 2026 20:31 IST