Tourism by women, for women

In the tourism sector, Kerala has been the flag bearer and spearhead of many groundbreaking initiatives. The credit goes to the state of Kerala and its first institute, Kumarakom, for making the tourism world think of responsible tourism as a concept long before many tourism advocacy organizations recognized it. Much water has flowed down the bridge, and the state's efforts and programs in the field of responsible tourism have won many awards worldwide. A number of RT expansion programs have been launched in recent years, but the state's women-friendly tourism program, with technical guidance from UN Women, is attracting attention for its novelty.

“Women are generally afraid to enter the tourism industry as there are many social taboos. I am sharing my experience to motivate them,” says Aathon, Malayoor, Kerala. says Shalini Pramod, owner of the private villa. He has been part of the women-friendly tourism network since the beginning. “There are many ways for women to be involved in the tourism business, beyond just being hosts,” she says.

Launched in October 2022, the goal is to build a strong network of at least 1.5 million women and 10,000 women-led tourism businesses by 2025, said RT Mission Kerala State Coordinator Rupesh Kumar. He says it's something to do. Through this, the mission hopes to create employment opportunities for at least 30,000 women in the tourism sector.

Around 1,000 women's companies have already registered with the initiative. These include homestays, travel agencies, ethnic culinary units, community tour leaders, etc. “This initiative is eliciting a positive response. It is a 100% women-led network. It has so far conducted over 2,000 online and offline training programs. The ultimate goal is to It is about declaring important tourist destinations as women-friendly tourist destinations,” he said.

UN Women, which is in the first phase of a three-phase program and is the technical supporter of the program, is also very enthusiastic about the progress of this initiative in the state. “At this pace, we are hopeful that we will be able to achieve the goals set,” says Peeja Rajan, UN Women's technical consultant.

Explaining why UN Women is joining and supporting this initiative, Rajan said that the Department of Tourism's Women-Friendly Tourism Initiative is part of UN Women's global initiative on 'Safe Cities and Safe Public Places for Women'. She said it was consistent with the framework and therefore easy for women. The government agency aims to localize the women-friendly tourism framework in the state. The aim is to create a safe destination for women to travel to and create employment opportunities for women in the tourism sector, she said.

The program will be piloted in five village panchayats – Kumarakom, Kanthalloor, Chembu, Pinarayi, Koodalanji, Anjarakandhi and one specific destination – Kanakakunnu Palace in Thiruvananthapuram. “The destination safety survey identified 70 panchayats, but it is not possible to roll out the program to all 70 at once. This requires a lot of coordination between multiple departments and agencies. I need it,” she said. Even in these destinations where the program was first rolled out, women's safety audit and gender assessment studies are still underway and reports will be submitted by March, Rajan said.

“Women travelers feel more secure when the host is also a woman,” says Jisha Vinod, who runs an agritourism department in Koodalanji, a village in Kozhikode district in Kerala. Since Vinod joined his RT and women friendly network, many women groups visited our homestay during this one year of his life. This homestay also includes a mud house. Kuodalanji, a remote village blessed with natural beauty far from cities, was not well-known for its tourism potential until a few years ago, Vinod said. After joining the network, her Dream Acres Homestay started gaining attention among her solo and small women's groups. “In our operations, we have received tremendous support from the RT Mission and local panchayats in the area,” she said.