Abstract:
For economically poor but resource rich countries, tourism has become a vital sector to
be considered for regional development. In the post-modern world, there seems to be an
ever increasing urge for experiencing authentic life styles and environment – a search
which is obvious to end up in locations and communities that were ecologically and
culturally enclosed so far, so that it had not altered yet. This taste of more diversified and
specialized experience makes many of the culturally and ecologically rich regions
attractive in contemporary tourism market. The new tourism styles like Eco-tourism,
Cultural tourism, Rural tourism, (indeed too many) have become synonym with the
growth of tourism in several countries. However the real challenge before policy makers
and the industry is to manage and strike a balance between conservation, recreation and
regional development. In this context, the paper tries to explore through various
alternative tourism concepts like eco-tourism and cultural tourism and observe its actual
practices in Kerala, the southern most states of India, which has initiated several
innovative tourism models. After analyzing the pros and cons tourism initiatives in the
state, the paper seeks to appreciate and present the approaches that could be used as a
base for tourism product development and management in ecologically and culturally
fragile area.
