Kerala Tourism will soon come out with a mobile app to further strengthen the country’s first ‘Women-Friendly Tourism’ initiative launched by the state government to turn the state’s tourism sector gender inclusive.
State Responsible Tourism Mission (RT Mission), the nodal agency for implementing the ‘Women-Friendly Tourism’ project, has been asked to prepare the content of the app, which will have all location-specific information and images including the socio-cultural features of various places of Kerala, to serve as a ready reckoner on the unique project. Tourism Minister Shri P A Mohamed Riyas rolled out the initiative in October last year, in tune with the UN Women’s ‘Gender Inclusive Tourism’ concept, which sees women playing key roles in tourism sector besides rolling out a variety of women-friendly tourism products and packages.
“We are living in a world where it has become a trend for women to travel to far off places in groups of their own or individually. Creating a conducive ambience for women tourists in the state is a policy priority of the government. The app on Women-Friendly tourism project will make the visit to Kerala more pleasant and hassle-free for women,” Shri Riyas said. Aiming at participation of 1.5 lakh women from the state, the project is being implemented with the support of various organizations including UN Women. It has set a target of creating 10,000 women ventures and 30,000 jobs in tourism sector. The mobile app marks the commencement of the second phase activities of the pioneering project. Apart from providing information about tourism centres in Kerala, the app will have all the details of women-friendly tourism products and packages, resorts, hotels, women enterprises, recognized tour operators, women tour operators, travel agencies, homestays and women tour guides.
Information in the app will include women-led handicraft and souvenir production and sales units, amenities like rest rooms, camping sites, licensed houseboats, caravan parks and ethnic cuisine units in various places, festivals and experiential and adventure packages, said RT Mission State Coordinator K Rupeshkumar.
RT Mission has started a massive information gathering exercise for inclusion in the app, besides studying the safety of women in tourism centres. RT Mission is the nodal agency for implementing the ‘Women-Friendly Tourism’ project, under which around 1,800 women have completed various training. Elected women representatives will undergo training in July.
