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Kerala declaration
on Responsible Tourism in Destinations:
1|2
The Incredible India 2nd International Conference on Responsible Tourism in
Destinations organised by
Kerala
Tourism and the
ICRT India. The
2nd International Conference on Responsible Tourism in Destinations was
attended by 503 delegates from 29 countries. The delegates came with a broad
range of experience and expertise from diverse cultures, environments and
backgrounds. There were delegates from international organisations, national
and local government, local communities, airlines, hoteliers, tour
operators, service providers, protected areas, NGOs, academia, architects
and planners, the media and consultants.
We came with a wide range of experiences from different environments,
cultures and tourism contexts and we have shared and discussed our different
experiences and approaches over four days.
We recognise the commitments made by policymakers in Kerala who have
committed to Responsible Tourism and pledged to take forward the concept of
Responsible Tourism into practice, focusing on local economy, well being,
local culture and environment. One of the purposes of responsible tourism is
that the benefits of tourism are equitably accessed and distributed.
Recognising that it takes time to achieve change through multi-stakeholder
partnerships, particularly if local communities are to be empowered to
participate in the process; and that due credit should be given for effort
and progress.
We encourage all stakeholders to share our vision for Responsible Tourism,
to recognise that the journey is worthwhile and that it is possible to
consistently create a better approach to tourism where together, local
communities, tourism enterprises, destinations, tourists, and governments
can all benefit.
Achieving Responsible Tourism in Destinations:
We came together at the invitation of Kerala Tourism and the ICRT India in
Kochi to discuss progress in achieving the principles of Responsible
Tourism, to share experience and to learn from each other about how to
achieve the aspirations of Responsible Tourism in Destinations and to
identify good practices.
Our deliberations focused on the issues which arise in the management of
tourism in destinations where domestic and international visitors, tourism
enterprises and local communities meet and interact. It is at this local
level that the interactions between tourists and local and indigenous
people; and between local communities and tourism businesses need to be
understood
Recognising that all forms of tourism should be more responsible, we call
upon all the stakeholders to play their part in achieving the aspiration.
Aware of the UN World Tourism Organisation’s Global Code of Ethics and
wanting to encourage all stakeholders to comply.
Recognising that Responsible Tourism is not a product; it is an approach and
which can be used by travellers and holidaymakers, tour operators,
accommodation and transport providers, visitor attraction managers, planning
authorities, national, regional/provincial and local government. An
integrated approach is required, involving many stakeholders in any place or
space which attracts tourists.
Recognising that tourism takes place in communities,, natural and cultural
heritage sites and environments where people live and work; and that tourism
is only one of the activities which needs to be managed in order to ensure
sustainable communities.
Recognising the priority expressed in the Cape Town Declaration call for
action to “to create better places for people to live in and for people to
visit.”
Recognising that the currencies of travel and tourism are those of free time
and of money and that when people are on holiday or travelling on business
they are generally consuming conspicuously; and that this inequality can
give rise to conflict. We endorse the aspiration of the language of hosts
and guests and the greater degree of equality it implies. While we recognise
the role of the industry, we must be conscious that the power relationship
generally significantly favours the industry and the visitor.
Recognising that domestic and international tourism often makes visible
inequalities between producers and consumers which becomes more apparent
when the consumer travels to the factory to consume the product. Economic
inequality does not necessarily have to be compounded by expressions of
social superiority evidenced by a lack of respect. The ethic of mutual
respect and equity is fundamental to Responsible Tourism.
Aware that tourism reflects the economic and political relationships which
empower consumers in our globalised world we recognise that tourism can be
managed to have more positive impacts and less negative ones. Recognising
that tourism can be a tool to conserve and enhance local natural and
cultural heritage.
Recognising the principles of the Cape Town Declaration which defined
Responsible Tourism as having the following characteristics:
minimises negative economic, environmental, and social impacts;
generates greater economic benefits for local people and enhances the
well-being of host communities, improves working conditions and access to
the industry;
involves local people in decisions that affect their lives and life
chances;
makes positive contributions to the conservation of natural and cultural
heritage, to the maintenance of the world's diversity;
provides more enjoyable experiences for tourists through more meaningful
connections with local people, and a greater understanding of local
cultural, social and environmental issues;
provides access for physically challenged people; and
is culturally sensitive, engenders respect between tourists and hosts, and
builds local pride and confidence.
Recognising that each place, each destination will identify and prioritise
different issues and that this is something which should be celebrated,
reflecting as it does our world’s diversity of cultures and environment.
Local communities need to be empowered to exercise control over the forms of
tourism that they wish to see developed in their communities, and even to
their right to say ‘no’ to tourism.
Recognising that in India, policy on Responsible Tourism is evolving and
reflecting on the experience of the Responsible Tourism policies/practises
already being implemented in some parts of India, South Africa, Sri Lanka
and The Gambia in pursuing Responsible Tourism strategies; and the
experience of Sri Lanka and The Gambia in developing formal Responsible
Tourism Partnerships involving formal on going multi-stakeholder processes..
The conference has also drawn on the experience of 29 countries which
participated in the conference
Recognising that in order to achieve the necessary agreement on issues and
priorities we need to rely more on reliable empirical evidence to define
issues and their scale, in this way it is possible to build
multi-stakeholder partnerships to address the issues and achieve change.
Recognising that the issue of whose interests take priority is a political
issue.
Aware of the need to focus on the contribution of tourism to the local
economy and that increases in domestic and international arrivals can
contribute to this, recognising that governments need to focus more on
locally captured yield and the contribution of tourism as part of a local
sustainable development strategy
Recognising the role of government in leading an open and inclusive
multi-stakeholder process to ensure economic and social development whilst
conserving the environment.
Recognising that although the impacts of travel and tourism need to be
managed locally in the destination the form of travel to and fro between
home and destination is now of major importance.
Aware that there is a global consensus amongst scientists from a wide range
of disciplines that Green House Gases are contributing to climate change
which is having serious impacts on our environment and that these negative
impacts fall disproportionately on the poor in developing countries, we
accept that reducing carbon pollution from the tourism industry is a
priority and urge governments, tourism businesses, the airlines and other
forms of transport, and consumers to prioritise carbon reduction, reducing
the consumption of fossil fuels, increasing, energy efficiency and the use
of renewable energy.
Aware that most communities face increasing water scarcity, unsustainable
waste generation and management, serious energy and fuel constraints and
biodiversity loss.
Recognising that tourism is increasingly challenged to demonstrate its
positive impacts on livelihoods, social and economic development and
conservation.
In addition to ensuring that tourism does not cause problems to local
communities, increasingly the tourism industry is called upon to respond to
critical social problems and to act in the social interest contributing to
social justice.
Recognising that generally in the destination no operator or originating
market predominates and that this is desirable, the destination does not,
and should not, belong to the originating markets domestic or international.
In many destinations the consumer and the originating market industry is
more powerful than the local community and the local tourism industry and
that this can have undesirable consequences with serious negative impacts
Recognising the importance of World Travel Market’s World Responsible
Tourism Day and its adoption of the Cape Town Declaration in 2002. One of
the key challenges facing Responsible Tourism is to engage with the
mainstream industry. Whilst there has been some success in some originating
markets and in some destinations there is still a long way to go in engaging
the industry, tour operators in destinations and source markets (whether
domestic or international|), accommodation providers natural and cultural
heritage sites and other attractions and tourism service providers, to
accept and shoulder their responsibility to actively contribute to achieving
sustainability.
Recognising that whilst we need to be aware of the complexity of the
interactions of tourism in a destination, stakeholders and local priorities
need to be identified, an agenda for change needs to be agreed and
implementation needs to be commenced. It is important to begin to manage
tourism more sustainably in accord with local priorities; we recognise that
not everything that may be desirable can be achieved immediately.
Recognising the experience, knowledge and skills of communities, we can
listen and learn from them; there are no blueprints – there are only local
solutions although we can learn from the experiences of others.
We have used the principles of the Cape Town Declaration during our visits
to local initiatives to explore the approaches and methods which contribute
to the successful realisation of the aspirations of Responsible Tourism and
the ways in which obstacles to progress can be overcome. This experience
combined with our diverse experiences of efforts to deliver Responsible
Tourism has informed this Kerala Declaration which contains a distillation
of the lessons we have learnt about how to achieve Responsible Tourism in
Destinations.
Aware of the Guiding Principles for economic, social and environmental
responsibility in the Cape Town Declaration the Kerala Declaration focuses
on process and approaches to implementation.
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