Bureaucrats Magazine – The year was 1998. Dr V Venu, then a 34-year-old bureaucrat, had just taken over as Kerala Tourism director.
Bureaucrats Magazine – It was a time when Sri Lanka was widely believed to be the ayurveda capital of the world. The young director was determined to reclaim the honour for Kerala. He planned a major marketing blitz, but by employing never-before used methods.
Bureaucrats Magazine – “I remember meeting Dr Venu with digital content for CD-ROMs and videos. He gave them all a close look and then asked me to look at the nails of the masseurs we had featured,” said Hari M R, the chairman of Invis Multimedia.
Bureaucrats Magazine – “These were professional masseurs we had chosen for the photoshoot. These women constantly dealt with all kinds of ayurveda concoctions that it was natural that their fingers and nails were stained. Dr Venu wanted the ads sanitised. Already, India was perceived as unhygienic. He did not want our digital content to confirm that impression in a foreigner travelling to Kerala for health purposes. We got the point,” Hari said.
Bureaucrats Magazine – He reworked the campaigns using professional beauticians as masseurs. As the main model, Invis roped in a radiant girl. In a year this girl would win the Miss Chennai title. And in another four, would become a rage in Tamil and Telugu films. But when she was picked for the Kerala Tourism ad, following Dr Venu’s insistence on fresh ways to package Kerala, she was in her teens and was just about finding her feet in the world of modelling.
Bureaucrats Magazine – Venu Vasudevan currently serves the Government of Kerala as the Principal Secretary, Tourism, and looks after three more departments. With over 15 years of experience in senior management positions, Dr Vasudevan is the longest serving officer in tourism in India. Dr Vasudevan joined the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in 1990, and has served the Government of India and state Government of Kerala in various capacities. Born in 1964, Vasudevan earned a degree in medicine but later chose to take up a career in the civil services. He has served the sectors of Tourism and Culture in a variety of assignments. It was during his tenure as Director, Kerala Tourism, and later as Secretary, Department of Tourism, that Kerala transformed its market positioning and built up a strong private–public partnership, culminating in Kerala being recognized by the National Geographic Traveller as one of the 50 ‘must-see’ destinations of the world. Kerala Travel Mart, the biggest international travel mart in India, is his brainchild. He served the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, and played a pivotal role in formulating the ‘Incredible India’ campaign. Two projects designed by him have won international awards instituted by Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA). He played a key role in the improvement and upgradation of the museums and archives of Kerala. Moving to the Union Government, he served as Joint Secretary, Ministry of Culture, with responsibility over apex cultural institutions, libraries, archives and Museums. As the Director General of the National Museum (from January 2013 to May 2015), he headed a team that worked on the revival of National Museum, initiating a range of projects that improved arrivals, enhanced visibility and involved stakeholders and the academic community
Bureaucrats Magazine – He was invited to be a participant in the Global Museum Leaders Colloquium of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. He served as the Vice Chancellor, National Museum Institute of History of Art, Conservation and Museology. In the tourism sector, Dr Vasudevan has deep interest in community-based tourism. He organized the 2nd International Conference on Responsible Tourism, and was instrumental in establishing a robust model for Responsible Tourism in Kerala. He writes extensively on communities, responsible tourism and the changing role of public sector in the tourism sector. Apart from his official responsibilities, he is a keen theatre actor and an avid fan of Arsenal football club.
Bureaucrats Magazine – Vijayakumar B. served as the Principal of Kerala Institute of Tourism and Travel Studies for ten years from 2007 to 2017. He joined the Collegiate Education Department, Government of Kerala as Lecturer of Economics in 1981, and also served as Senior Lecturer and Reader of Economics in various government colleges. He also served as visiting faculty in tourism in University of Kerala for seven years. Dr Vijayakumar is a post graduate in economics, tourism management and rural development and took degrees of MPhil and PhD in tourism from the University of Kerala. He is an accredited management teacher and life member of All India Management Association, editor of Indian Journal of Tourism and Hospitality Management, expert member of various committees of State Planning Board, vocational higher secondary education, Business Advisory Committee Hospitality Sector of Additional Skill Acquisition Programme Kerala, Post Graduate Board of Studies in Tourism at Central University,
Bureaucrats Magazine – Puducherry and Anna University, Chennai. He also served as Chairman, Board of Studies (UG), member of Post Graduate Studies in Economics and Management and faculty of Social Sciences, University of Kerala. He has coordinated 12 research projects, published 4 books in economics, 11 books in tourism and contributed research articles to various national and international journals. He has presented research papers in more than 75 national and international conferences. He is a recipient of National Award for Best Research Report in 2003, instituted by International Institute of Adult and Lifelong Education New Delhi and Vocational Excellence Award by Rotary Club, Thiruvananthapuram in 2014. His areas of expertise include sustainable tourism and community-based tourism activities. He is actively involved in propagating responsible tourism among tourism stakeholders at micro and macro levels through public meetings, workshops, print and electronic media.
Bureaucrats Magazine – Saroop Roy B.R. is currently Assistant Professor, Kerala Institute of Tourism and Travel Studies, and the project coordinator of the Responsible Tourism Initiative in Kerala, and he has played a significant role in the formulation and implementation of the project in the state. He finished his degree of Masters of Tourism Administration (MTA) from the University of Kerala after finishing his B.Tech in Electronics and Communication engineering. Starting his career in tourism field as a trainee at Thenmala Ecotourism Promotion Society (TEPS) in 2000, he was the Kerala co-ordinator of EQUATIONS, a Bengaluru-based research campaign and advocacy organization on tourism policies and issues, for eight years. In 2010, he moved to the tourism academic field as faculty MBA (Tourism) at the Institute of Management in Kerala (IMK) under the University of Kerala. In 2011, he joined KITTS as Assistant Professor in Travel and Tourism (T&T). His expertise includes areas in tourism policy formulation, ecotourism, responsible tourism, rural tourism and community-linked tourism projects. During his tenure at EQUATIONS, he participated in the SBSTTA 13 meeting of the Convention on Biological Diversity held at Rome in February 2008. He also led the Indian delegation of ecotourism practitioners to attend the South African and Indian Practitioners’ Workshop to exchange lessons and best practices on using nature tourism as a force for Poverty Alleviation at Johannesburg in May 2008.
Bureaucrats Magazine – He was also the resource person at various sessions on Institution Building for Sustainable Tourism and Livelihoods, organized by UNDP at IRMA, Anand as part of the Endogenous Tourism Project in 2006 and 2008. He participated and presented papers at various international forums including the ‘Canopy Tourism: Concept and Practice in the Indian Context,’ at the 5th International Canopy Conference in October 2009, Bengaluru, and made the key note presentation on environmental responsibility at the International Conference on Responsible Tourism—Looking Back: Moving Ahead—held at Kumarakom in June 2013. On the policy front, he was the drafting committee member of the Kerala Tourism Policy 2012, Revamping of Homestay Classification Scheme for Kerala 2015 and preparation of charter for Green Carpet initiative for Kerala Tourism 2016. Vijayakumar and Saroop Roy jointly authored the books Tourism and Livelihood: Selected Experiences from Kerala (2011), A Case Study on Kumarakom (2013) and submitted research paper ‘Community Based Tourism Business in Kumarakom: A Case Study of Innovative Products and Experiences’ which was accepted for presentation at the 2nd UNWTO Knowledge Network Global Forum held at Mexico in 2014.
