Kottayam (Kerala), Feb 26 (PTI) The Kerala government on Sunday entered into an agreement with the United Nations (UN) Women to boost women-friendly activities in the State's tourism sector.

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A memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by Kerala Tourism and UN Women India agreed to work towards promoting gender-inclusive tourism sites in the State.

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The MoU was signed by Kerala Tourism Director P B Nooh and UN Women India representative Susan Ferguson and it would be implemented by the Responsible Tourism Mission, a government release said.

"As per the pact inked at the first-ever Global Responsible Tourism Summit in Kumarakom near this city, both parties will promote women-friendly tourism in Kerala.

This will be done by creating modules and capacity-building of relevant stakeholders, besides providing advisory support for baseline research, implementing women-friendly tourist destinations and supporting interventions to change prevalent discriminatory social norms," the release said.

Kerala Tourism Minister P A Mohamed Riyas, who inaugurated the four-day summit, said the MoU was in continuation of the State government's renewed efforts towards women-friendly tourism since October last year.

"We will ensure good female participation in tourism initiatives and allied services besides RT (Responsible Tourism) projects. The idea is to promote tourism with focus on women empowerment," he is quoted as having said in the release.

Ferguson is quoted as having said that women merited encouragement to work in tourism so as to instill a sense of security among the travellers to the State.

"More jobs to women in key slots will not only generate employment but curtail the prevailing gender inequality," she said.

The conclave features 280 delegates and 70 speakers.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)