THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: For nearly a decade, the problem faced by the Responsible Tourism movement in Kovalam was the reluctance of the stakeholders — the industry and local enterprise — to take ownership of the project. But during this season, which would dawn from the middle of October, too much participation could turn out to be its bane. Village Life Experience, where tourists are introduced to unique vignettes of coastal life, was perhaps the only successful Responsible Tourism activity in Kovalam.
The VLE package had good response even in years that saw a dramatic fall in tourist arrivals to Kerala. This year, however, the demand for VLE has gone down as a multitude of local entrepreneurs have replicated the VLE package and are indulging in more aggressive promotion. "Our demand has been hit but in a way this proliferation of VLE packages reflects the success of the RT model," a top Tourism Department source said.
The VLE package has been devised to provide income to 20-25 families involved. Tourists taking the VLE package pass through unique places like weaver's village, seine fishing, coir village, coconut oil extracting units, mask-making units and the like. Apart from the fixed amount paid by the Department to each of the people involved, they will also get tipped by the tourists.
The arrival of new players is seen as a vindication. "New players might have emerged but they cannot dump our payment model. The private VLE packages that are in demand now pay our villagers even better. This will only benefit the locals, which is exactly the objective of Responsible Tourism," the source said. Further, the private VLE packages allow tourists to explore more unique activities like lobster fishing.
What has perhaps eaten into the revenues of the official RT movement is the patronage given by the tourism industry to the private VLE players. "Some of the big hotels recommend our package because we taken tourists through a larger variety of village life," said Immanuel, a local fisherman who runs a package called 'Kovalam Unplugged'.
