Tourism's New "Smart Growth"- at whose expense? The Case of Tsunami Fund Appropriation by Kerala Tourism
http://keralatourismwatch.org/node/117 Dear friends, Warm Greetings from Kerala Tourism Watch! It was the other day the UNWTO at its annual ritual of official Tourism Day Celebration falling on 27th of every September tried to reassure an increasingly skeptical local communities that Tourism growth will be pursued with enhanced emphasis "on ethics and local community involvement…" This, it declared "is the main conclusion of this year's World Tourism Day (WTD) Think Tank" held in Lima, Peru. The UNWTO in its statement also emphasized that "Tourism must grow in a smart way". We bring to your attention an example of such "smart ways" of tourism growth. It comes from Kerala where, in an a appalling violation of Federal Government rules and procedures and fundamental ethical protocols, funds earmarked for rehabilitation of Tsunami victims have been appropriated for Tourism development projects by Kerala Tourism. Will the UNWTO listen? The Government of Kerala has received 14,417.5 million Indian Rupees of Government of India's Tsunami Rehabilitation Programme (TRP) funds for rebuilding the lives and livelihood of tsunami affected coastal communities. Of this, 1000 million Indian Rupees have been allocated to the state tourism board, Kerala Tourism, to fund 20 tourism projects proposed by them. Kerala Tourism is diverting this fund meant for restoring the life of tsunami affected population for developing infrastructure for beach tourism. These projects are not in tsunami-affected areas and the projects will bring hardly any benefit to local people, particularly marginalised affected fishing communities. These projects are being done in the name of coastal protection while it is for the development of tourism infrastructure and so-called beach beautification schemes. The fishing community has been questioning the rationale of using Tsunami funds for tourism projects. Many of the projects will directly conflict with the needs and interests of tsunami-affected communities. They have already raised their protests and concerns .But the arrogant Kerala Tourism has never taken these concerns in to account and they are going ahead with these projects, neglecting the opinion and concern of the coastal communities. We, Kerala Tourism Watch believes that the decision of Kerala Tourism to go ahead with the project activities despite the raising concerns and protests from the coastal communities is an insult and injustice to the tsunami affected communities. And thus we are calling for a larger campaign to stop the inhuman act of 'Irresponsible Kerala Tourism'. We also request you to question Kerala Tourism in the international forums like World Travel Mart, where Kerala Tourism portraying it as 'Responsible Tourism Destination' for its marketing. We request you to send your protest to Kerala Tourism and spread this to your part of the world to show your solidarity to the real victims of tsunami. Looking forward for your solidarity Kerala Tourism Watch In solidarity with the Kerala's Tsunami victims we request you to write to the following authorities in Kerala and New Delhi against unethical and ill-advised appropriation of Tsunami funds for Tourism projects in the state: Smt. Ambika Soni, Union Minister of Tourism and culture, Government of India, New Delhi, email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Shri. V. S. Achuthanandan, Chief Minister, Government of Kerala, Govt. Secretariat, Thiruvananthapuram, email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Shri. Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, Minister for Tourism Kerala, Govt. Secretariat, Thiruvananthapuram, email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Shri. Shilabhadra Banerjee, Secretary, Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, New Delhi, email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dr. Venu V. IAS, Secretary of Tourism, Government of Kerala Thiruvananthapuram, email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Alternatively, you may also visit UK Based Tourism Concern website: http://www.tourismconcern.org.uk/index.php?page=efax where a facility for electronic fax to post protest to The Chief Minister of Kerala and Minister of Tourism is provided. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
