Hotels, resorts in Kerala to go through Responsible Tourism classification

Sustainability and socio-cultural involvement to be considered

The classification and certification of hotels and restaurants in the State under the aegis of the Responsible Tourism (RT) Mission, launched on Tuesday, is a first-of-its-kind initiative under a government agency. The classification is mainly based on the compliance of the hospitality industry to the policies of the RT Mission, which is rooted in sustainability.

“We take into consideration their sustainability and environment friendliness besides socio-cultural involvement through a set of questions. Factors such as usage of plastics, local employment, sourcing raw materials locally, assisting local artists and artisans, transgenders and differently abled, practising gender equality, environment audit, and water conservation come into question,” said State RT Mission Coordinator K. Roopesh Kumar.

The properties are rated out of 1,000 points and are classified based on it. Those that earn up to 300 points are classified as RT Silver, those up to 500 points as RT Gold, and those above 500 as RT Diamond. Besides, RT Green classification is given to those properties that earn more than 80% points in the environment category.