Over the next decade. the travel sector in the South Indian state of Kerala is expected to generate 750,000 new jobs. Already it earns close to $3.5 billion a year from tourism. Yet, writes Bahar Dutt, a conservation biologist and author of Green Wars: Dispatches From A Vanishing World, “many of its hot spots are in trouble, reeling under the pressure of too much tourism.”
In Brief
- A 2006 study by the Kerala Institute of Tourism and Travel Studies found that because of a tourism boom, the Kovalam beach received 2,000 visitors a day, exceeding the carrying capacity of the beach in terms of length and resources by over 40%.
- A 2012 study for the Kerala State Pollution Control Board estimated that the houseboats were discharging 230,160 litres of waste water into Vembanad Lake each day, destroying all life within it over time.
In Depth
- Read the original article on Livemint
- Join a discussion on the issues raised in the article on Outbounding.org
- Engage with Responsible Tourism issues in Kerala in the Better Together Facebook group.
- Learn more at the Responsible Tourism Kerala website.
