Couple of weeks back, we got a phone call from a local college telling that they are organising a 'National Seminar on Responsible tourism', an event supported by University Grants Commission. It seems one of the speakers had suggested TBY name telling that Responsible tourism in Kerala was triggered by what we initiated based on River Nila fiver years back and will be able to give insights from a practitioners point of view.

The event till evening was a jumboorie of academic reading, reports tracing the RT movements across the world. Though well-attended, we were not really sure how much of this was of any use to the students attending the seminar. Till the last moment we were not sure what we should talk about or what angle of the business we should introduce them to. Especially since our sessions fell after a heavy lunch, we had to ensure the we showed them something that ensured students weren't falling asleep.

We spoke in Malayalam, which I guess helped to connect well with the crowd while rest of speakers all spoke in English, we told the background of how TBY was formed, and what we learnt in five years. We ran about 80 slides of pictures taken from less than 30 square kilometres of that college, and surprisingly there were far less than a quarter of the audience who knew what we were sharing. Almost all of them hadn't seen the cultural heritage of the region. However, when asked how many of them have planted at least one sapling in their entire life, there were quite many. Though when asked about the number of saplings that they have seen survived after the planting, as in many similar situations, the hands went down. Not surprisingly.

When we shared the details of our partnership with Palliative Care movement in Kerala linking nature conservation with rural health programs, almost every one had heard about palliative care clinics functioning in rural Malabar region. It took more than 5 years for us to stand in front of local boys and girls to show case and share what we have been doing so far. However, I have to admit that irrespective of all the conferences, seminars and trade shows The Blue Yonder attended across the world, this was the most fruitful, satisfying experience. To stand in-front of an audience of enthusiastic students, and talk to them in our colloquial language about approaches we have taken to find solutions to local issues through responsible tourism, felt so good.

The result of the 90-minute engagement was there to see by end of the day as the college principal invited us to his office to say how glad he was knowing about The Blue Yonder and how his institution is willing to keep apart one acre of land within the 26-acre campus for the traveller's forest! Though the practicalities of this partnership has to be worked out in detail, we hope this model will help our region regenerate at least some of its bio-diversity.

If only 10% of our school and college management decides to follow M.E.S Ponnani college, Kerala would be a better place to live in and visit!

The last few weeks saw two unique events in Responsible tourism. Trend setting responsible tourism networking events were held during SATTE in New Delhi on 29th Jan and later on in Kathmandu on 2nd Feb 2010.Continuing the tradition of networking to bring together like-minded people in Responsible tourism to learn, share and inspire, both the event stood apart for its uniqueness.

Delhi event supported by SATTE, ITB-Berlin, The Blue Yonder ,Travel Operators for Tigers (TOFT)and International Centre for Responsible Tourism - India (ICRT India) focused more on workshops this year, whereas the event in Nepal saw experienced practioners inspiring tourism students. New Delhi discussed the role of Media in responsible tourism in a panel moderated by Sankar Radhakrishan - Independent writer, editor and attended by Charles Kao - Chairman and Publisher - Travel Mole Media group, Kai Friese - Editor - Outlook Traveller and GEO and Sopan Joshi - Managing Editor - Down to earth Magazine.

The panel on responsibility on wildlife tourism was moderated by Julian Mathews: Chairman Travel Operators for Tigers (TOFT)and well attended by Amit Shankala: Managing Director - Encounters Asia and Dr. Latika Nath Rana from Singinawa Lodge.

The discussions were concluded by a panel on Responsibility & Profitability exploring the business case for responsible tourism? The panel consisted of
Asit Biswas : Co-founder - Help Tourism, Charmarie Maalge: Founder Director / CEO - Responsible Tourism Partnership Sri Lanka, Major Murray Jones: Specialist travel advisor - Palaces and Tigers UK and Rakesh Mathur: President ITC Welcom Heritage. Panel was moderated by Lelei TuiSamoa LeLaulu: Co-Chair - Innovations for Sustainable Development Centre.

This was followed by networking event.

The Responsible Fringe Meeting held on 02 Feb 2010 at the Dechenling Garden Restaurant in Kathmandu was attended by over 50 individuals, including 17 students and faculty from three leading tourism institutes - SMSH, NCTTM and NATHM.The event was organized by socialtours.com travels and Silver Mountain Institute of Hotel Management, and sponsored by Everest Summit Lodges.

“In May 2007, BBC world was making a programme called Climate Watch where they were collecting information on the impact of global warming on local population and destinations in different parts of the world, including India. They got in touch with us and told us they wanted to document the impact of global warming on the river Nila (Bharatapuzha) in central Kerala. The river had by then started gaining international attention following our campaign to highlight this unique river valley civilization being destroyed through human greed.

Bharatapuzha, otherwise poetically called Nila, is the longest river in the Indian State of Kerala. Kerala has a unique network of 44 rivers in a land that is just 580km long where the average width comes to about 50kms. The river Nila is dammed in many locations; rivulets and streams flowing into the river have dried up because of various construction activities and lifestyle changes."

Read more excerpts and details of the book 'Disaster prevention in tourism'

Labels: Climate Change, Media, River Nila

Palliative Care is now the most visible social movements in Kerala thanks to the efforts of Pain and Palliative Care Society in Calicut. From a one room clinic by the anaesthesia department in Calicut Medical Collegein 1993, palliative care has grown organically into a movement that has more than 8000 volunteers in action at any point of time mainly in the Malabar region of Kerala.

While entering the main campus of Institute of Palliative Medicine, there is a green patch known as “Smritivanam", a wood dedicated to the memory of dear ones. This was initiated by Forest Protection Staff Association, the trade union of forest protection staff six years ago.



The Blue Yonder is taking a small initiative to help preserve this patch for regeneration and let it develop into a natural forest. In future, this patch will be a solace for the in-patients to rest and relax and find harmony with the nature. Travelling volunteers, medical students and regular palliative care volunteers will be taking active role to maintain the place. read more about the initiative here

The Blue Yonder is exhibiting with Karnataka Tourism at 2010 edition of SATTE New Delhi from 29-30th Jan. This will be an opportunity for trade partners to know more about our new product range. For appointments, please contact Sandeep Sinha

We are once again partnering ITB Berlin to promote Responsible tourism at SATTE. 2009 SATTE saw excellent turnout at the Responsible tourism networking. This year we are working with Tour Operators for Tigers (TOFT) and ICRT India to organise various responsible tourism workshops and networking events.

29 Jan 2010
Responsible Tourism networking
organised by The Blue Yonder and TOFT (Travel Operators for Tigers). The evening will also witness the launch of TOFT awards.

Time 5-6 pm
Venue: Conference Hall, Hall 18, Pragati Maidan. RSVP on email or facebook

Labels: ITB Berlin, Responsible Tourism Networking, SATTE, The Blue Yonder

Malabar was once a British Principality of India. After Independence, Malabar as a state was no longer recognized and the region was divided to form the northern part of what is today called Kerala. Though Malabar has no geographical boundaries, no presence on a map of India, it still exists as a state of mind: laid-back, slow, to live and let live.

While most of Kerala is recognised as a traveller’s must–visit destination, Malabar is yet to be discovered. And hence to the uninitiated, Malabar offers a plethora of delights ranging from a river cruise to legend trails to spice tours to tea estate visits to craft villages and heritage sites.

This is a Kerala where the everyday and exotic merge seamlessly. For a traveller who is weary of experiencing shrink wrapped plastic package tours, the Malabar leg comes minus hype and spin and instead is a way of life that asks little of the traveller except an open mind.

The Malabar holiday is now available for an auction through The International Eco Tourism Society website. Check here for more details.

Labels: eoc tourism, Responsible Tourism India, The Blue Yonder, TIES

Responsible tourism networking event at the ITB Asia in Singapore on the 22nd OCT saw people from more than 25 different countries gathering to interact with like-minded people working in Responsible Tourism. The event also became very unique by providing a platform to organise an art auction. WIT conference attendees drew doodles on a canvas which was later transformed into a stunning visual by local artist Sarbani Bhattacharya based in Singapore. An initiative by Issu.E.Rasers, the proceedings from the event went to Himmapaan Foundation based in Thailand. The RT networking event was organised in partnershisp with The Blue Yonder, Wild Asia and Traveltocare.com

Labels: ITB Asia, RT networking, The Blue Yonder