International Spice Routes Heritage Network launched to position heritage as global tourism asset

Key facts

• Kerala has launched the International Spice Routes Heritage Network, a global platform to boost cultural tourism and research by leveraging its historic maritime trade.
• The initiative signals a strategic push to reposition heritage as a contemporary economic and tourism resource rather than a static historical narrative.
• The Spice Routes Network would function as a platform for collaborative research, joint projects and shared resources in heritage conservation, archaeology, documentation, and museum development.
• Organised by the Kerala Tourism Department in collaboration with the Muziris Heritage Project, the January 6-8 event brings together historians, policymakers and cultural practitioners from India and abroad.
• Tourism Minister P.A. Mohamed Riyas announced the initiative while inaugurating the three-day International Spice Routes Conference, themed 'Ancient Trails. New Journeys', at Bolgatty Palace.