Tourism Department alive to child abuse

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: M. Sivasankar, Director, Tourism Department, said here on Monday that while economic growth contributed by the tourism sector was crucial to the State, the department did not need a single rupee coming from child abusers and was willing to work with any agency to check sexual exploitation of children by tourists.

Speaking on �Consultation on child sexual abuse related to tourism at the second day of a seminar organised by the Kerala Mahila Samakhya Society, Mr. Sivasankar said the department had started to accept that child abuse in the context of tourism in Kerala was not a myth but a reality.

He said while it was possible to detect and take prompt action against illegal activities in the organised tourism sector, only social interventions and multiple support systems for children could check such activities in the unorganised sector.

�The Tourism Department, which is the sole agency promoting Kerala as a tourism destination, has always promoted Kerala as an exclusive tourism destination. We do not want a large number of tourists coming to Kerala. If you look at the kind of promotion and marketing we have been doing, Kerala has been projected as an exclusive tourist destination offering a unique tourism experience,� he said.