📈 Kerala's Gender-Inclusive Tourism Blueprint: Lessons for Sri Lanka

• Kerala is setting a national benchmark for gender-responsive tourism via its Responsible Tourism (RT) Mission and new Gender-Inclusive Policy, aiming to make destinations safe and economically beneficial for women. • The initiative has already engaged over 17,000 women as entrepreneurs, guides, and homestay owners since 2022. Future goals target the creation of 10,000 women-led ventures and 30,000 jobs. • Empowerment is achieved through training, micro-enterprise grants, and gender/safety audits. Focus is on sustainable rural hubs (e.g., Maravanthuruthu STREET Project) and empowering women across the tourism value chain. • Sri Lankan officials, who participated in a familiarisation visit, lauded Kerala’s government commitment, allocated funds, and strong network of tourism societies/women's groups. • The recommendation for Sri Lanka is to prioritise promoting women's participation as employees in the formal tourism sector to bridge skills gaps and meet industry demands, requiring similar strategies to overcome social gender barriers.