December 17 2021: The Aymanam Model Responsible Tourism Village Project, the  riverine location near Kottayam in Kerala,  has won the World Travel Market’s ‘Indian Responsible Tourism One To Watch’ award.
The award was received by Kerala Tourism Director Krishna Teja, at  a  WTM event  in London recently in the ‘High Speed Diversification’ category for tourist activities spanning two years ending on March 31, 2020. The award-winning project functions under Responsible Tourism (RT) Mission.
The recognition comes  14 months after Kerala declared Aymanam  a model RT village, after it  fully implemented the RT Mission’s guidelines focusing on ecological conservation of tourist spots besides promotion of culture in a way that helps the local populace earn income.
Responsible Tourism seeks to strengthen local development with people’s participation. The government is planning to implement the project in other villages of the state, says Dr. Venu V., Additional Chief Secretary (Tourism) of the Kerala Goverenment
As part of the RT project, Aymanam, along the Meenachil river, is carrying out packages featuring rural life, bird-watching, walks across paddy fields, cycling and sightseeing of the countryside. It has women as tour community leaders, earning worldwide recognition.
The WTM award will further enable Kerala to revive its tourism after a lull following the outbreak of Covid-19
For a glimpse of the village life experience at Aymanam, check out  this video from Kerala Tourism on our home page Tech video spot. It can also be seen here.