case study of kerala tourism

Artificial Intelligence and Transforming Digital Marketing pp 1037–1045 Cite as

A Case Study on the Impact of Tourism on the Tribal Life in Vayalada, Calicut, Kerala

• P. T. Retheesh   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-0412-5885 4 &
• K. K. Jagadeesh   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-8206-3157 5  
• First Online: 04 October 2023

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Part of the book series: Studies in Systems, Decision and Control ((SSDC,volume 487))

There aren’t as many misty hill stations in Kerala’s northern region as there are in its southern region, but there is one place in Kozhikode that will steal your breath away. Travelers have made Vayalada, a quiet location blessed with natural beauty and shrouded in sleepy mist, popular on social media. In the Kozhikode district, this magnificent mountaintop is located about 12 km from Balussery. Vayalada has all the elegance and tranquilly of a hill station because it is 2000 ft above sea level, and from its highest point, one can see the scenic beauty. There are different Adivasis who are divided into a number of sects, including the Ooralis, Kattunaikkans, Adiyars, Kurumas, Paniyas, and Uraali Kurumas, who live on the border of Kozhikode and Wayanad districts. This case is about six tribal families who are living in Vayalada, near Thalayd, in Calicut, Kerala. Vayalada is just becoming a popular destination because of its scenic beauty and the beautiful view of Kakki Dam. This case is especially about the problems faced by the tribal families living in Vayalada due to the increase in tourist arrivals.

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College of Business and Finance, Ahlia University, Manama, Bahrain

Allam Hamdan

Department of Management and Marketing, Ahlia University, Manama, Bahrain

Esra Saleh Aldhaen

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Retheesh, P.T., Jagadeesh, K.K. (2024). A Case Study on the Impact of Tourism on the Tribal Life in Vayalada, Calicut, Kerala. In: Hamdan, A., Aldhaen, E.S. (eds) Artificial Intelligence and Transforming Digital Marketing. Studies in Systems, Decision and Control, vol 487. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-35828-9_87

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Rethinking Ayurveda: a Case study of Ayurvedic Tourism in Kerala

This paper tries to trace the classical origins of Ayurveda in the ancient past of India and map down its genealogy to current times. The paper intends to asses the relevance of the science and its reception in the present day world. The focal point of the study is the Ayurvedic tourism of kerala

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The striking feature of healthcare industry in India is its potential to grow at a much faster rate in the foreseeable future. In this prevailing situation, Health Tourism has emerged as a separate industry with incredible potential. Health/Wellness tourism refers to trips that are taken by tourists with the principal purpose being to improve their health and/or wellbeing. Today, once again, promoting the healthful and health-care benefits of a destination is gaining popularity because tourism marketers need ways to differentiate their products. Kerala can tap this trend by highlighting its unique health care products. The State, almost synonymous with the word 'Ayurveda', is now all set to reap the benefits of the same through Wellness tourism. Kerala has the advantage of worldwide recognition, as it has been included in the list of the ten must-see destinations by the National Geographic Traveler. Wellness, in general, is used to mean a healthy balance of the mind, body and spirit that results in an overall feeling of well-being. The concept of health holiday, now better known as Wellness holiday, is based on the principles of Ayurveda, meditation, yoga, physical exercises and a balanced diet. It is like rejuvenation and clean up process on all levels - physical, mental and emotional. Ayurveda deals elaborately with measures for healthful living during the entire span of life and its various phases. Besides, dealing with principles for maintenance of health, it has also developed a wide range of therapeutic measures to combat illness. In order to cope with the growing demand for wellness, resorts, hospitals, medical practitioners and Government have taken ample measures to promote alternative health care in Kerala. Along with the projects already underway, there is a need to draw up plans for promotions in future. The present paper investigates the reasons why Kerala is now pioneering as an alternative healthcare destination and the main objective is to analyze the reason as to why Kerala is being chosen as a preferred destination for Wellness Tourism. An attempt is made to study the market potential and strategies adopted for Kerala to emerge as the most sought after Wellness tourism destination in the Globe.

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The present paper attempts to study the revitalisation of Ayurveda in Colonial Tamil region and the contributions of Pandit Srinivasa Narayana Iyengar in the movement. Western medicine was introduced initially for benefit of Europeans in British India and later extended to the Indian population was a ‘tool’ of empire. Gradually, Colonial government and practitioners of Western medicine stigmatised Ayurveda as irrational, dangerous and superstitious medicine and strived to marginalise it in the government policies and public sphere which paved the way to get cultural domination over colonised. As a result, physicians of Ayurveda attempted to revitalise their medicines through professionalization, systematisation and standardisation. Besides, they instituted printing presses and published numerable tracts, pamphlets, journals and books to counter the hegemony of Western medicine. In this contest, the meanings and boundary of Ayurveda were reconfigured and medical practices (written in regional languages) which did not fit into newly constructed medical identity e Ayurveda, were marginalized from the boundary of Ayurveda though they were part and parcel of the system until the late nineteenth century. As a response, an alternative medical identity e Tamil Siddha Medicine e was constructed by Tamil physicians in Colonial Tamil region. In this milieu, the present study traces the valuable contributions of Pandit Srinivasa Narayana Iyengar in promoting Ayurveda and solving the disputes among Sanskrit Ayurveda and Tamil Siddha practitioners in colonial Tamil region.

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Kerala Tourism Model -The God’s own country’s Marketing Case study

Hello everyone,

Today im gonna talk about the Kerala tourism model

Tourism is one of the most neglected industries in India what’s more disappointing is that

India is one of the most beautiful countries in the world with the most invaluable assets that

very few countries have we have dense and large green forests one of the most biodiverse ecosystems in the world we do not have the disadvantage of extreme climatic conditions like Canada and

most importantly regardless of which month of the year it is India always has a wonderful destination to serve the tourists we have the sun of Katch and goa for winter and spring Manali for summer Mahabaleshwar for monsoon and

countless other destinations for not just seasons but every single month of the year the best part is that our greatest asset is not a super tall building or an amusement park

it lies in the natural ecosystem which cannot be built regardless of how much money you have for example, you can build a Burj khalifa with 1.5 billion dollars but you cannot build a 5000-year forest with a beautiful climate right? but even then if you look at the numbers even Hong kong

a country that is smaller than Delhi had 55 million foreign tourists in 2019

whereas India which is 2000 times bigger than hong kong had only 17.9 million foreign tourists

you know what guys the small state of Kerala has been doing an incredible job with its tourism project and

in the past 20 years, the foreign tourist arrival in Kerala has shot up by 378 per cent

going from just 209000 and 2000 to over a million arrivals in 2019 and at the same time the earnings of the state from

the foreign exchange has shorter from just 416 crores to 10 000 271 crores from 1999 to 2019 this turned Kerala from an unknown place into a world-famous destination

in 2000 the national geographic society declared Kerala as one of the top 10 paradises in India

the world travel tourism council chose Kerala as a partner state it even got named as one of the top 10 hot spots for the millennium by the mi rights magazine the question is how did Kerala become such a popular place for tourism ? how did the Kerala government achieve this exponential revenue growth? most importantly what are the lessons that we need to learn from this iconic strategy

the back story

this is a story that days the back to early 1990s India back then,

the Finance minister Manmohan Singh just opened up the economy because of which we had evaded an economic crisis by a whisker so just like today money is flooding into the startup ecosystem of India back then since India was the biggest market after china several companies rushed to India to set up their hubs in the wake of Globalization

as a result, we saw the entry of giant foreign companies like coca-cola Hyundai and Nokia this is how several industries started flourishing the Indian middle class started to have more disposable income to spend but like I said before despite having wonderful destinations

India as a country was not even close to being featured as the world’s top tourist. Destination and the image of India was almost like modern-day Bangladesh a fast-growing developing nation but not so good for Tourism

this is where ladies and gentlemen the Kerala tourism development corporation took this matter very very seriously

and they executed a marvellous project that did not just turn the outline into an iconic destination

but changed the very outlook of tourism in India This strategy was so successful that in the next 10 years the foreign tourist traffic shot up by 200 % the domestic tourist traffic shot up by 450% Kerala began to be featured among the top 10 destinations in the world

the question is what was so special about this strategy that it turned Kerala into a world-famous destination

Brand re call value

the first pillar of this strategy was the marketing campaign to increase the brand recall value of Kerala for those who don’t know brand recall value is the percentage of individuals

who can recollect your brand when a product or a service is mentioned for example, when do I say a burger

what is the first brand that comes to your mind ? when I say hair oil what is the first brand that comes to your mind? if you thought about McDonald’s burger or parachute hair oil it clearly states that these brands have a high recall value now in the case of tourism creating a brand recall value is a little tricky

because most of the customers you are appealing to have never visited your destination and

yet you have to carefully curate your marketing campaign in such a way that

when someone thinks about travelling to a particular place your destination by default must be the obvious choice so the tourism team of Kerala picked three of the most unique and powerful attributes of Kerala that are nature Ayurveda and culture

god’s country campaign

they came out with a beautiful campaign called the god’s country campaign and

just like the name implies the campaign portrayed Kerala beautifully in billboards and videos all across the world for national publicity, they collaborated with Indian hotels to spread the message about Kerala all across the country,

and within some time Kerala achieved the brand recall value with its association with nature

furthermore because of its beautiful natural ecosystem. Kerala ended up owning the title of god’s own country now on the outside, for some people, this might not sound like a big deal

but I got to tell you guys that this entire campaign was not executed by a marketing agency like Ogilvy and Martha who had world-class consultants but by the government officials of Kerala who worked on a very tight budget and

most importantly this was done during a time when there was no digital marketing no social media and no easy access to the internet . this meant that the government officials had to figure out which countries to target without google analytics

they had to get an ad spent for billboards by talking to hundreds of people from across the world they had to negotiate these with hundreds of vendors from across the world and

then they had to strategically place their billboards in completely unknown countries just hoping to get a good return on investment

in short, this entire process required an insane amount of vision strategy dedication and patience

to get through the government bureaucracy and execute something so incredible and

the result turned out to be absolutely worth it The foreign tourist traffic shot up by almost 200 % going from just 69 000 visitors to 2.1 lakh visitors in 2000 the domestic tourist traffic shot up by 428% going from just 9 48 091 to 5 million visitors in 2000 now another astonishing thing to be noted over here is that

if you look at the numbers of increasing visitors and the income generated by the state

you will see that although the number of foreign visitors increased by only 200 per cent

the earnings of the state skyrocketed by 1700 going from just 28.2 crores to 525 crores from 1991 to 2000

Avenues of income

so the question over here is how is there such a stark difference in the increase in traffic in the earnings

well this is what brings me to the second pillar of Kerala tourism

building avenues of income by the ease of business the reason why this was important

was that even if a lot of people came to Kerala the state cannot just generate revenue simply by the number of visitors they have

to get people to spend on things so that they can generate revenue through taxes collected from those businesses whereas in Kerala you got a wildlife century to visit

you can spend on boat rides

you can live in a boathouse

you can go for tea tasting

you can live in a treehouse

take a spice tour

to indulge in Ayurveda sessions which is extremely popular and well marketed and then spend on your stay and food so if you see these are all high ticket avenues that were built by the local businesses in Kerala now this again required very heavy expenditures and policy changes and guess what they started to roll out lucrative subsidies to promote business in Kerala and

they actively took up the task of improving wayside facilities board terminals and jetties

apart from that, they built a great waste disposal system for the backwaters to make sure that the waters are clean and Picturistic.

this was followed by improving other basic infrastructure projects like roads and wayside facilities

all of these projects were executed to achieve a return on investment for the state in the next 10 to 20 years

this was the long-term thinking that the government officials had for the state of Kerala and this is clearly reflected in the numbers if you look at the numbers of hotels in 1990 there were only 565 hotels that started in Kerala but

in the next 10 years, this number doubled to 1222 and kept doubling for the next 10 years again similarly the number of restaurants opened in Kerala was only 1098 from 1986 to 1991

but this number shorter by almost 200 to 311 restaurants between 96 to 2000

and it again rose by 200%to 8467 from 2006 to 2010 and more just like this,

every other business from Ayurveda to boat riding started flourishing in Kerala to create new avenues of business

this is a reason why tourism started flourishing in Kerala as more and more businesses started operating in fact, in a stand that I saw from the department of tourism of Kerala because of the increase in the number of hotels and marketing,

there was a sudden increase of 219 in domestic tourists in 1995 which then kept growing even further this is the reason why the income generated by tourism in Kerala is shorter by 1700% in spite of the foreign visitors increasing by only 200%

Corporate Approch

then comes the last pillar of Kerala’s massive growth and that is the evolution of the project with time now people

I don’t know if you realize this but then one of the biggest reasons

why corporate companies function way better than government bodies

is because of the changing leadership of the entities when there is a CEO change the intent of the new CEO is usually to follow the footsteps of the former leader and

make the organization even better this is what leads to constructive development

but in the government,

it’s about how to demolish everything that the former leader has built

so that I can claim credit for the initiatives this is what leads to destructive development. but surprisingly in spite of the government constantly transitioning between the congress and the communist party of India

the tourism of Kerala has always been progressive and the development has hardly ever slowed down this is clearly evident in the progressive steps that they’ve taken with time just like a corporate does

for example the tourism department found out that India was not considered to be a safe place

thieves often used to steal luggage and they used to loot the tourists

so as soon as the Kerala tourism department understood this problem

they came up with an innovative comprehensive insurance package for tourists in association with united India insurance limited

this scheme compensated tourists for any accidents occurring during the period of their stay

if they stayed in any one of the KTDC 6 premium properties for a minimum of 3 nights

apart from that various schemes such as

the personal accident scheme

medical expense

baggage cover scheme and even a loss of passport scheme was introduced

just so that the tourists feel secure about their trip to Kerala the second example of the strategic evolution of their marketing campaign can also be seen from their youtube channel

I was shocked to see that Kerala tourism already started posting on youtube in 2009 itself now they have 244000 subscribers time and again they give the god’s own country campaign a fresh outlook to keep up with the trend and

to maintain Kerala’s brand recall value

in fact, as soon as the pandemic started fading away Kerala heavily spent on youtube content creation

because of which their top two videos have already crossed seven million views each now they are posting one content every single day

this is the reason why people from all across the world flock to Kerala

and undoubtedly the government of Kerala has done an incredible job with the sheer capitalistic approach to establish a world-class benchmark for others to follow

now this brings me to the most important part that is as entrepreneurs and future leaders of this country

what are the lessons that we need to learn from Kerala’s tourism case study

moving on there are three lessons that we need to learn from the iconic case study of Kerala

it doesn’t matter how good your product or service is unless you know how to spread the word about it

in this case, as I said on paper India has so many destinations for tourism that the tourism industry should have been a perennial source of income for India unlike Kerala, we do not have a capitalistic approach towards tourism because of which we are losing millions of dollars in revenue with each passing year

and small businesses that could have generated a ton of money at tourist destinations are still making only a fraction of what they could have made

If we had foreign visitors

in tourism marketing is only half a job done what you have to do further is build a solid backend system to generate revenue and

to extract the most out of your assets in this case the government of Kerala was proactive enough to build a sustainable ecosystem for businesses

because of which they saw a drastic increase in their revenue eventually generating more taxes and

number three

if you’re a government body you can either treat your people as voters or as customers

if you treat them as voters you will care about their votes and then you’ll about bureaucracy

but if you choose to treat them as your customers you will use your massive power and resources to eventually earn both their taxes and their votes this my dear friends is what we call conscious and strategic capitalism at its best

in this case, it was the proactiveness of the Kerala government to introduce insurance schemes to invest hundreds of crores into fixing the jetties to fixing the waste disposable system and lastly their ability to stay ahead of the curve with modern tools like youtube and social media marketing

all of these things made Kerala a god,s own country in tourism

About The Author

Rahul Chakrapani

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Farm tourism: A way of life in Kerala

Many tourists long to be away from the hustle and bustle of daily life. Amid the tranquil surroundings of a farm lies the secret to happiness and peace sought after by visitors. Most foreigners come to Kerala seeking solace in terms of its unique flora and fauna. In addition to this, yoga, Ayurveda, and numerous rejuvenation therapies such as Kalari medicine add to the opportunities that an entrepreneur can make use of to earn a decent income. All these forms can be combined with farm tourism.

Many homestay operators have already added farm tourism to their itinerary even though not on a scientific basis. It is here that the Government of Kerala has to step in to add benchmarks to farm tourism in terms of training and authorization. The government organizations like KITTS with over 30 years of experience in tourism training is ideally poised to address these requirements.

Farm tourism usually involves- accommodation, farm visits, farm shop visits, guided walks, and farm activities. The use of indigenous methods and organic farming is widely accepted and is popular among tourists. Many destinations like Kanthalloor located near Munnar has gone a long way in developing farm tourism. Nelliyampathy, the beautiful hill destination of Palakkad is another shining example where farm tourism has been successfully applied.

Sunflower bloom makes this farm in Kozhikode a popular spot for visitors

Farmers take to sunflower cultivation, make extra bucks from flocking tourists

Requirements to start a farm tourism endeavour

An individual or a group wishing to start a farm tourism endeavour should be in possession of at least 10 acres of plantation at or near a tourist centre or along an established tourist circuit or major transport corridor. Another option is to be part of Green Farms Kerala.

The farm also needs a sufficient parking area, well-developed entry area, ticket counter, guardroom, gate, name boards, etc, fully covered compound wall at entry area, stalls or shopping area outside or inside the farm, restaurants/coffee shop/snack bar, walkways, signage, etc. within the farm, toilet facilities inside and outside the farm and brochures.

Packages and tours that can be offered

Depending on the strengths of the destination, packages can be designed. The following options can be considered depending on the availability of resources- trekking, boating, and fishing. Some homestay owners help visitors cook food using traditional methods. In addition to this, interaction with domestic animals such as cows, goats, and sheep are other ways of experiencing village life. In addition to this, ethnic art forms and cultural shows are arranged by enterprising entrepreneurs. Birding is another major form of tourism activity that is gaining popularity in Kerala.

Marayoor, a scenic village located near Munnar is a classic example where village life experiences have been converted in packages. The traditional recipes made by the local community are a great hit among tourists. Trained by the Kerala Institute of Tourism and Travel Studies (KITTS), Women self-help groups formed after attending the skill development programme conducted by the institute have started making livelihood. This not only sustains their family but a community as a whole in Marayoor. Farm tourism is also linked to these activities in addition to protecting house sparrows through the hugely successful Back to Nest initiative.

Scope of farm tourism in Kerala

Agriculture is a way of life in Kerala from time immemorial. Even in this cyber age, a large number of youngsters not to speak of the traditional farmers have embraced farming not only for a living but as a passion. In districts like Wayanad, Idukki, Palakkad, Pathanamthitta, and Kottayam, the farming community occupies a unique place in society. Kuttanad, the rice bowl of Kerala in spite of the repeated floods with constant support from the government is a shining example of the farming culture of Kerala.

Many tourism destinations in Kerala are intrinsically linked to the unique crops grown in there. A classic example is Munnar where tea plantations on the slopes of its rolling hills are its Unique Selling Proposition (USP). Similar is the case of Wayanad where spices and the unique produce from the bamboo rule the roost. If the uniqueness of a particular destination is linked to farm tourism without disturbing nature’s balance, this will be beneficial to the local community and the state as a whole in terms of livelihood and income.

Kerala, the land of a plethora of natural bounties is ideally poised to become a farm tourism destination. Much needs to be done in terms of setting up standards for this endeavour. Even though many farm tourism entrepreneurs have set up farms in the State, it needs to be standardized. Once a system is in place, the scope is immense for developing farm tourism in other districts other than those mentioned. For example, even though Thiruvananthapuram does not figure among the destinations mentioned in this article it is very much an agriculture-oriented district. In similar lines other destinations can be brought into the farm tourism map for the future. Implementation of farm tourism with a futuristic view keeping in mind its impact on the economy and society will pave way for better tomorrow.

(The authors are assistant professors at KITTS)

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Ecology and Economy: A Case Study on Thenmala Ecotourism in Kerala, India

Nature has always been vibrant that we inherent from the past and pass on to future generations to use. There is a symbiotic relationship between ecosystem and socio- economic life of the people. The present study seeks to review certain aspect of ecology and economy in the context of Thenmala ecotourism. Kerala the southernmost state of India and popularly known as God’s own country in tourist literature. Thenmala ecotourism project is the first planned ecotourism project in the country. Thenmala is a small village at the foothills of Western Ghats and predominantly a forest covered area located in the Kollam District of Kerala. Ecotourism is an emerging concept in tourism industry and this programme encompasses education, sustainable development, respect for fragile environments and the people with whom the traveller is interacting. The concept of ecotourism today has sharpened its aspects in the goals of responsible tourism by making maximum participation in responsible positions for the local as well as tribal hosts India.

1. Introduction

The formations of ecological signs as a direct outcome of inter relationship between nature and human subsistence strategies. Studies show that everything in the socio-cultural regime revolved round eco- culture of this economy and everything was disposed of so as to establish its eco -cultural hegemony over other economies 1 . Tourism is recognised as one of the important global service industry today and it has seen rapid growing industry. Over the last fifty years tourism has become one of the largest economic sectors globally, accounting for some 9 percentage of the world’s GDP and over 200 million jobs 2 .

International agencies like the United Nations World Tourism Organization have estimated that nations like India and China would become the superpowers in the global tourism map by the year 2020 3 . The 1992 United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, the Rio Earth summit were identified Travel and Tourism as one of the key sectors of the economy which could make a positive contribution to achieving sustainable development 4 .

Ecotourism is an emerging concept in tourism industry and this programme encompasses education, sustainable development, respect for fragile environments and the people with whom the traveller is interacting. According to the World tourism organisation: “Ecotourism is the tourism that involves travelling to relatively undisturbed natural areas with specific objective of studying, admiring and enjoying the scenery and its wild plants and animals as well as any existing cultural aspect found in this areas” 5 . Ecotourism is one of the key sectors for India in the service sector negotiations under General Agreement on Trade in Services in the WTO 6 . The India’s New Tourism Policy 2002 was implemented in the 10 th Five Year Plan, will generate awareness about the benefit of tourism for the host population 4 .

2. Western Ghats and Tourism

The Western Ghats which are older than the Himalayas and are described one of the 8 “hottest hotspot” areas of biodiversity were inscribed in the UNESCO World Natural Heritage Sites list in July 2012 7 . The term Western Ghats refers to the practically unbroken hill chain (with the exception of the Palakkad Gap) or escarpment running roughly in a north-south direction, for about 1500 Kilo meter parallel to the Arabian sea coast, from the river Tapi (about 210 16’ North) down to just short of Kanyakumari (about 8019’ North) at the tip of the Indian peninsula 8 . The number of tourists visiting the Western Ghats is increasing steeply. The forms of tourism observed are nature based on ecology, wildlife, religious, social and business. Religious tourism has the highest share of tourism in the Western Ghats followed by other forms of tourism. The Western Ghats are naturally is an important centre of sustainable development efforts. The Gadgil Report says that Tourism needs special attention in the Western Ghats and such sites need to be understood as production-consumption systems. These are “systems in which environmental goods and services, individuals, households, firms and states are linked by flows of materials, energy and relationships in which transactions of money and information or negotiation of power and influence take place” 8 .

3. Definitions of Ecotourism

Tourism has immense potential to accelerate progress across the Sustainable Development Goals. This sector can generate quality job for durable growth, reduce poverty and offer incentives for environmental conservation a triple-win to help countries transition toward more inclusive, resilient economies 9 . The term ecotourism was emerged in the late 1980s as a result of the world’s acknowledgement and reaction to sustainable practice and reaction to global ecological practices. Ecotourism was a term first coined by Hector Ceballos Lascurain 10 , a Mexican Environmentalist in 1983. The first organisation devoted to ecotourism was the International Ecotourism Society founded in 1990.

Ecotourism meant to be a Sustainable form of natural resource based tourism. There are many well recognized definitions formed a clear picture of the concept of ecotourism. Ecotourism Society defines ecotourism as responsible travel that conserves natural environments and sustains the wellbeing of local people 11 . Das says, “ecotourism, defined as responsible travel to natural areas, that conserves the environment and improves the welfare of local people, has caught the attention of diverse interests, both as an economically profitable leisure activity, and as a means of conservation and development” 12 .

National ecotourism strategy (1994) defines “ecotourism is the nature based tourism that involves education and interpretation of the natural environment and is managed to be ecologically sustainable”. Wenjun Li (2009) describes in the recent decades, ecotourism emerged as one of the most economic, effective and environmentally friendly way of utilizing natural resources and maintain sustainable development in natural reserves 13 . According to Weaver (1999), Interest in ecotourism now wide spread among tourism planners and marketers, is rationalise by a number of popular assumptions regarding the sector’s potential economic, environmental, and socio-cultural benefits. However, most of the definitions of eco-tourism boil down to a special form of tourism that meet the criteria like it provide environmental conservation include meaningful community participation and it is profitable and can be self-sustained.

4. Ecological Economics of Thenmala Ecotourism in Kerala

Kerala situated the southernmost tip of India. The state blessed with excellent weather and networked by forty- four rivers, thirty - four lakes, Pond, lovely hills, its numerous lagoons, dense vegetation and paddy cultivation. The tourism destinations like silent valley National park, wild life sanctuaries of Shenduruney, Parambikulam, Neyyar, Periyar and the bird sanctuaries of Thattekkadu and Kumarakam enrich the exotic wild life. According to the 1999 statistics of Kerala has eleven Wildlife Sanctuaries, two National parks, one tiger reserve and many potential ecotourism destinations 5 .

The excellent geographical features of Kerala and serene environments attracted tourists in all over the world. Tourist arrival is one of the most important indicators of the demand for tourism in a particular destination point. Kerala one of the highest growth rate in tourist arrivals and the following table gives the data on Foreign Domestic tourist arrivals over the last five years. From 2014 onward, it can be seen that there is steady growth in tourist arrivals. The given below official Statistics shows that the foreign and domestic tourists are increasing in absolute terms.

Table 1. Tourist Arrivals (2014 - 218) [14]

• Tables index View option Full Size

Ecotourism today has sharpened its aspects in the goals of responsible tourism by making maximum participation in responsible positions for the local as well as tribal hosts India 15 . The Government of Kerala is committed to develop plans for utilizing the ecotourism potential in the State. The Government assure that ecotourism is promoted on the basis of sound principles of ecological sustainability. Thenmala Ecotourism is India’s first planned ecotourism project 16 based on sound principles of ecological sustainability. Thenmla lies on the western slope of Western Ghats, in Kerala and ecosystem management in Thenmala attracted many tourists from all over India.

Thenmla is a small Village, located at the foothill of the Western Ghats, between Kulathupuzha and Punalur, in Kollam District of Kerala, with full of rivers, streams, hillocks and evergreen forests 17 . The hilly village of Thenmala is situated 22km east of Punalur on the Kollam - Shencotta railway 18 . The area is covered by dense forest, Tea and rubber plantation and beauty of this destination is attracted large number of domestic and international tourists. Thenmala Forest Division and Shenduruney Wildlife Division fall wholly within the district 18 .

The name Thenmala is derived from two words “ Then ” and “ Mala” in local parlance. Then ‘Thenmla’ translates to Honey Hill’ and high quality honey is exported from this area. The majority part of Thenmala is under forest cover and it borders the Shenduruney Wildlife Sanctuary. The artificial lake formed by Parappar dam built across the Shenduruney and the Kulathupuzha rivers occupies the central part of the sanctuary. The forests of Thenmala offer excellent fortuity for ecotourism with a wide array of flora and fauna. The surrounding dense forest is also known for the good quality timber that is in much demand across the country. In order to promote tourism ten satellites enters are identified around Thenmala. These places are Palaruvi falls, Aripa, Kulathupuzha, Aryankavu, Achancoil, Konni, Pamba, Kochu Pamba, Umayar and Ponmudi. Thenmala ecotourism project won the prestigious Pacific Asia Travel Association gold award for 2003-2004, the National Tourism Awards for the most Eco - friendly organization in 2001-2002, and the best ecotourism practices in 2003-04 19 .

5. Shenduruney Wildlife Sanctuary

Thenmala Ecotourism project has been formulated in and around the shenduruney Wildlife Sanctuary with the assistance of Tourism, Forest, and Irrigation Departments. Shenduruney wildlife sanctuary is the one of the richest areas of Bio- diversity in Western Ghats. The sanctuary is located in Kollam district and comes under the control of Agastyavana Biological Park. The etymological meaning of the name “Shenduruney” is derived from a tree called “ Shenkurrunjy” or Chenkurunji which is an endemic tree was found in this region. Chenkurinji tree ( Gluta Travancorica) from which the sanctuary got its name Shenduruney grows here. This area is covered with Tropical evergreen forest and semi evergreen forest comprises three fourth of the total area of sanctuary. The major forest type in the region are Sothern Hilltop Evergreen forest, West coast semi Evergreen forest, Sothern secondary moist mixed Deciduous forest, Myristica swamps and Reed Brakes.

Historically, Shenduruney has rich heritage and the remnants of pre-historic period was excavated from this area. A recent study was conducted by P.Rajendran, Archaeological Research association of the Poona Deccan College, has resulted in the excavation of the remains of Stone Age Culture from a large cave situated at the north western part of the Shenduruney River. It has been proved these remains belong to the Mesolithic Age and this study reveals the fact that Shenduruney River Valley Civilization was the one the oldest river valley civilization in India 20 .

Shenduruney wildlife sanctuary confesses that the region has diverse flora with high rate of endemism 21 . This area is covered with Tropical evergreen forest and semi evergreen forest comprises three fourth of the total area of sanctuary. The major forest type in the region are Sothern Hilltop Evergreen forest, West coast semi Evergreen forest, Sothern secondary moist mixed Deciduous forest, Myristica swamps and Reed Brakes. The Myristica swamps are tropical wetland found in the valley of Shenduruney and Kulathupuzha River. The Myristica swaps, a vanishing ecosystem, now largely confined to 53 patches in the Kulatupuzha and Anchal forests and the Shenduruney Wildlife sanctuary 22 . The major ecotourism spots in the Shenduruney sanctuary are Kallar Trial, Dharbhakulam Trial, Kattlapara-Choodal Bird watching Trail and boating in the sanctuary. The Shenduruney forest was declared a wildlife sanctuary in 1984.

6. Thenmala Ecotourism Promotion Society (TEPS)

In the year 1998, the ‘Thenmala Ecotourism Society’ was founded as a Government of Kerala undertaking to promote ecotourism activities at Thenmala and its surroundings. The main aim of this organisation is promoting Ecotourism activities at Thenmala and its surrounding areas with cooperation of Forest, Irrigation and tourism Departments.

7. Objectives

The important objectives of the project are:

Ÿ To develop Thenmala Dam and its neighbouring areas as a major tourism destination by the turn of this country.

Ÿ To promote ecotourism on the basis of sound principles of ecological sustainability in Thenmala and its neighbouring area.

Ÿ To have a well-planned tourist destination with attention on sustainable tourism development so as to become a model for other destination in advancing programmes.

8. Impact of Thenmala Ecotourism

There are both positive and negative impact based on various activities by the tourist and the changes which are taking place. Thenmala ecotourism play beneficial role for the conservation cultural heritage, economy and environment. The ecotourism creates a knowledgeable society in a village at Thenmala and it upgrades the public infrastructure. The ecotourism in Thenmala there appear to play an important role in protecting the natural environment. People should make aware the ecological impacts damage to ecosystem: effects on physical environment. As considering the economic side, tourism should create the employment opportunities for the local communities in the particular region. After coming of Thenmala ecotourism the local people got jobs, number of them provide tourist with local food and lodging, guide service and locally made handicrafts as a result their community receives substantial direct economic benefit. Moreover Thenmala region brought about variety of other positive changes including more jobs and increased the income of the family and this result an improved standard of living for the population. Abolition of poverty is possible under ecotourism and income generation these are the important objectives of ecotourism.

Considering the negative impact of ecotourism, the maintenance of bio diversity is a critical component of the sustainability. The promoters of ecotourism have forgotten or needful ignoring the principles of ecotourism. As a consequence of this we are facing a new form of ecological imperialism in which western cultural values are being impressed on the indigenous culture through ecotourism. The major interruptions by the local residents and officials in the Thenmala ecotourism project from domestic and foreign tourist are mostly on the destruction of natural habitat, wildlife disturbances and conflicting attitude 23 . Ecotourism is the buzzword in tourism. Exciting industry, government and conservationists like, it has come to embrace environmental friendly, community friendly and market friendly tourism 4 . But even though its value in rising awareness of the relationship between tourism and environment, the term has become misused that it is little worthless cliché, which may be harmful as conventional form of tourism. Another disadvantage of ecotourism, sometimes it may be considered only an extension of tourism marketing. The ecotourism need government or NGO’s proper financial support otherwise it will not work out the expected level. Moreover the concepts of ecotourism will work out only the support and cooperation of the local people. Unless the local people will participate the programme will not be consider an ecotourism.

9. Conclusion

Ecology is one of the most critical components essential for the well-being of a society and the foundation for a sustainable and powerful economy. Thenmla, with its diverse nature and culture has enjoying a unique place in the pages of history. Thenmala lies on the foothills of Western Ghats, this area coming under the ecologically sensitive area and need special attention and need to preserve or the future generation. Tourism has experienced continued hike and increased diversification becoming one of the fastest developing economic sector in the world. Thenmala ecotourism project is India’s first planned ecotourism project. The ecosystem management in Thenmala attracted tourist from different parts of India. Ecotourism can able to contribute to development which is economically, ecologically and socially sustainable. This addresses the fundamental issues like conservation of nature, culture, society and promotion of traditional knowledge by developing tourism through community participation. In the functioning of Thenmala ecotourism local people have significant role than any other agency. Endeavour to make tourism and inclusive social experience it is ensure to that there is access for all especially the vulnerable and disadvantaged communities in the society.

Published with license by Science and Education Publishing, Copyright © 2020 Sreerekha. M

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

This article is part of the research topic.

Climate Change, Human-Wildlife Interactions and Sustainable Tourism Nexus in Protected Areas

Local community perceptions on human wildlife interactions in the face of climate variability. A case of Nyaminyami community, Zimbabwe Provisionally Accepted

• 1 Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, Chinhoyi University of Technology, Zimbabwe

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Human interactions with wildlife, both positive and negative, have defined the nature of human wildlife relations throughout history. Along with human wildlife interaction, Climate change exacerbates the complexity and consequences of human wildlife interactions, particularly those that rely on flora and fauna for tourism and development. This study assesses the interrelatedness and causes of human wildlife interactions and climate variability and the impact they have on livelihood. Two hundred and fourteen people randomly selected from four wards in the Nyaminyami community in Mashonaland West, Zimbabwe were interviewed.Four focus group discussion sessions with randomly selected residents were also conducted in each ward. Results from the study show that respondents were concerned that human wildlife interactions resulted in human wildlife conflict, and that anthropogenic factors contributed immensely to an increase in the problems faced by local communities. Most of these concerns stemmed from specific areas (wards) where factors such as competition for resources, settlement in wildlife corridors, agricultural activities, tourism and increasing human induced climate change are accelerating human wildlife conflict. Results also show that human related practices contributed to human wildlife interaction in all the four wards. Discussants reported climate change, competition over resources and living close to protected areas as the major factors influencing human-wildlife conflict. It is recommended that communities be educated on, and need to embrace climate change and adapt to it. It is also important that any tourism ventures in the district involve the communities so that they directly benefit from and see the value of living with wildlife and learn to coexist. Proper land use planning is also paramount before any settlements are allocated to avoid living close to protected areas.

Keywords: Climate Change, coexistence, Human wildlife conflict, land use planning, protected area, wildlife damage, problem animals

Received: 26 Oct 2023; Accepted: 22 Apr 2024.

Copyright: © 2024 Mupunga and Shoko. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Mr. Power Mupunga, Department of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, Chinhoyi University of Technology, Chinhoyi, Zimbabwe

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