City Heritage at the Outlook Responsible Tourism Culture & Heritage Awards 2025

Posted : 01-10-2025

Some journeys begin not with fanfare, but with quiet footsteps. For us at City Heritage, it started on the shores of Mappila Bay ? a walking tour with four close friends who believed that heritage was not only about ruins and records, but about living stories waiting to be told. We dreamed then, in that small circle, of taking local heritage and culture to the global tourism map.

This September, that dream found a profound moment of affirmation at the Outlook Responsible Tourism Culture & Heritage Awards 2025, where City Heritage was honoured as the Silver Winner in the Urban Heritage & Cultural Immersion category.

Yet the real story of these awards is not only in the trophy or certificate, but rather the days of collective experience, cultural exchange, and emotional encounters that framed the occasion. It was a festival that gathered artisans, storytellers, cultural keepers, culinary revolutionaries, and champions of sustainable tourism together across India ? beneath one roof, with one over-riding purpose: to reimagine tourism as a force of responsibility, of inclusion, and of meaning.

Outlook Responsible Tourism Awards: A National-Level Award

Since its inception over a decade, the Outlook Responsible Tourism Awards have been among the highest revered recognitions in travel and tourism within India. It's not just an award, but a cause. Conceived out of Outlook Traveller's mission to redefine our understanding of travel, the awards honour individuals who combine hospitality and sustainability, heritage and innovation, and community and culture.

The annual awards celebrate initiatives across different genres ? from green efforts to cultural experiences, innovative grass-root tourism models to processes of heritage management. In nine different categories, this year's awards were handed out to identify best of India's evolving face of tourism.

What sets these awards apart is their jury process. Headed by Dr. Venu Vasudevan IAS, the former Chief Secretary of Kerala and Chairman of the Kochi Biennale Foundation, the jury assembled some of India's most distinguished voices on culture, governance, and tourism. Dr. Vasudevan's direction ? fusing administrative acumen with cultural sophistication ? made sure that the awards transcended numbers or looks and celebrated the soul and sustainability of projects.

For City Heritage, shortlisting here on this national stage, in front of this selective panel, felt less a personal achievement and more a public recognition of the cultural system we're a part of.

Pre-Awards Day: A Road Trip through Malabar 

The day prior to the final ceremony was a storybook of Kerala's cultural legacy.

We started off with a boat safari through the backwaters-fed Moorad River by Sargaalaya Kerala Arts & Crafts Village, with mist still lingering over the river, the craftsmen starting off their day's activity, and the peaceful river reflecting the eagerness among us. A sumptuous Kerala breakfast followed before we boarded buses to Kannur.

At St. Angelo Fort, City Heritage was privileged to facilitate a storytelling session, recounting the multilayered history of the Kolathiris, Arakkal dynasty, the colonial footprints of the europeans, and the sea legacies that influenced Malabar. The discussion flowed over to the Kerala Folklore Academy, where tales of traditions, songs, and performing arts were threads of rapport with delegates from all over India.

Lunch at the Kannur Club was hospitality and heritage combined ? old-world Kerala hospitality with its heritage of traditional tastes. By evening we were atop Sargaalaya, enchanted by a mesmerising Kalaripayattu display that made us reminisce about Kerala's martial past and enduring spirit. The day ended with a networking dinner, getting to know fellow nominees and supporters ? each one of them a keeper of culture by themselves.

The Day of the Awards: A Symphony of Culture and Responsibility

The morning of the awards was electric with energy. Delegates gathered at Sargaalaya to the thunderous rhythms of a traditional ?Pancha vadyam?, led by artist Santhosh Alankode and his troupe. It felt like the heartbeat of Kerala, setting the tone for what was to be an unforgettable day.

The sessions that followed reflected the depth and diversity of India?s responsible tourism movement. Outlook?s leadership welcomed us warmly; Indranil Roy, CEO of Outlook Group, reminded us of the power of tourism to unite communities; Rupesh Kumar, CEO of Kerala Responsible Tourism Mission, shared Kerala?s pioneering model of community-led tourism; while senior cultural leaders like Smt. Sreedhanya IAS offered inspiring perspectives on how heritage and governance can walk hand in hand.

Panel discussions moderated by some of India's best voices ? Sohail Hashmi, Danish Husain, Himanshu Joshi, and Aishwarya Tipnis ? touched on themes that varied from cultural policy to sustainability and empowering women through tourism. What emerged strongest to us was that each of these dialogues kept returning to a bigger truth: tourism isn't just about monuments, but about people, about storytelliing, about community dignity.

The Ceremony: A Time of Recognition

The hall buzzed with enthusiasm by evening, as category after category of winners were announced gradually. The very first set of winners were honored by none other than Kerala's Hon. Tourism Minister P. A. Mohammed Riyas, followed by the learned presence of other dignitaries, Jury members, and guest including Dr. Kurush Dalal, cultural historian and archaeologist.

And then came the penultimate award of the day ? Urban Heritage & Cultural Immersion. First were the "One to Watch" mentions to Nagpuri (Maharashtra) and Been There Doon That (Uttarakhand). The suspense was building up. And then came the announcement: "Silver Winner ? City Heritage."

Our Mappila Bay vision walked onto the stage at this moment. The founder of City Heritage, Muhammed Shihad, and City Heritage mentor and visionary advisor Basheer Badayakandy, Fathima Thasneem, and three-year-old Mehja received the memento and certificate from Dr. Dalal, with Outlook leaders Sukanya Chatterjee and Meenakshi Mehta standing by their side. The hall glowed with pride while three-year-old Mehja waved the award with his tiny hands vigorously ? a reminder that heritage is not only of the past, but of the future generations as well.

Sharing the stage with winners Make It Happen (Goa) and Gully Tours (Karnataka), we felt not competition but fraternity ? the sense that all over India, thousands of communities across the nation aspire to breathe new meaning into their heritage.  

Beyond the Awards: The Individuals That Made It Magical

Days spent at Sargaalaya were not only about being recognized, but about meetings. Meeting legendary storyteller Sohail Hashmi, interacting with Outlook CEO Indranil Roy, listening to Danish Husain's insights into theatre, note-exchanging with conservationist Aishwarya Tipnis, and gracing the same space with Rupesh Kumar of Kerala RT Mission ? all of this made the festival a living classroom.

We also carried back the energy of artisans, performers, and culinary practitioners who enriched the days with their craft and passion. The event was not simply an award ceremony; it was a festival of culture, responsibility, and community.

What this Award represents to City Heritage

The Silver Award is not the end goal to us, but instead, a milestone on a continuing journey. It's a recognition to be shared with everyone who envisioned our mission ? our very first benefactors within Kozhikode to our co-travelers across India who push us with their efforts.

It reminds us that heritage is not fixed. It is dynamic, developing, and closely connected to the pride of people. As we plan ahead for City Heritage, this understanding reinforces our commitments to design cultural experiences that not only present, but also enable, safeguard, and re-envision heritage into the future. Finally, the Outlook Responsible Tourism Awards showed us this deeply significant truth: that heritage is not only about the inherited past, but about the common future that we create together. And within that future, not only can tourism be responsible, but transformative.