Indian Ecotourism Pioneer and visionary Babu Varghese has passed away today.

A statement from his company, Tourindia (Web: www.tourindiakerala.com) states:

"With deep grief, we inform you that our honourable Managing Director, Mr. Babu Varghese passed away this morning of 18 Oct 2011 in his home at Thrikkannapuram in Trivandrum.

His burial will be held on 19 Oct 2011 at 10:00 am." 

The ECOCLUB.com Team is deeply saddened by the loss of one of our earliest Members, and has sent the following message to his colleagues:

"Please accept our sincere condolences to his family and to you, his colleagues on whom the great responsibility of continuing his path-breaking efforts for Kerala's tourism, communities and environment now rests.  Kindly let us know if a memorial fund will be set up so that we can contribute in his memory and also inform our Members worldwide." 

Babu Varghese was born in Kerala, India in 1951. He obtained an M.Sc in Zoology and an M.Phil in Behavioural Science from the University of Kerala. In 1972, when Tourism was a still a minor sector with only a few hotels in Kerala, he saw far ahead: together with two more 'educated & unemployed' students, they set up a 'tourist guidance' office and Tourindia was born.

Within just ten years Tourindia had become a leading tour operator with a young and committed team, who looked upon tourism not only as an economic activity but as a 'challenge to do the impossible'. Thanks to the constant interaction with travellers as a guide, Babu understood that visitors wanted to get a glimpse of the real Kerala, and thus looked into the possibility of converting authentic Kettuvallam cargo boats, which were then being phased out from the backwaters displaced by roads & trucks, into tourist boats. After many trials and errors, so that the boats could be made both viable and environmentally-friendly, the first Kettuvallam cruises in the backwaters of Kerala were launched in 1991 and promoted by Tourindia in trade shows all over the world. It was a runaway success, to the point that the 'house-boats' are now iconic, and central to the Kerala 'tourism brand'. Today over 500 boats allow tourists take in the unique Kerala Backwaters experience, directly employing over 2,000, and thousands more in repairing, maintaining and support roles.

Since the early 1990s, in cooperation with the Kerala Department of Tourism, Tourindia provided support, including travel & research to travel writers and television teams from major stations visiting Kerala and thus became instrumental in promoting Kerala to the world in the 1990s. Another great inspiration came in 1996, when Babu spotted two huge ficus trees suitable for supporting tree-houses at the top, and the Green Magic Resort in Wayanad was born. By 2002, when he deservedly represented his region at the 1st World Ecotourism Summit in Quebec, GMR was a multi-award winning resort. However, it was built on leased land and the lease would not be renewed...Undeterred, in 2007, Babu Varghese and the Tourindia Team went on to create Green Magic Nature Resort II in Kalladi, with 3 tree-houses, 4 eco-lodges and a cave house, this time in 30 acres of their own land. GMR II improves on the original, by also applying the ecological principles of reducing, reusing and recycling, featuring renewable energy - solar, bio gas and hydroelectric - and it is currently one of the hottest ecotourism projects in India. 

Beyond his award-winning work in Tourism, Babu Varghese was also involved in various development programmes empowering local community members.

Related:

ECOCLUB.com Interview with Babu Varghese