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Taking the road less travelled
In the last decade there has been a buzz for responsible tourism, involving rural India. With social entrepreneurship catching on big time and vacations in the rural hinterland on the rise, rural tourism as a social enterprise has worked for many foraying into this unchartered territory. Each set up has its USP and challenges, yet they have crossed several obstacles and are now established in the business. The target is a large chunk of foreigners who are ever curious to discover the real India as well as urban-bred people keen to discover the "other India". For city-weary souls, a rustic vacation means a whiff of fresh air, getting in touch with their roots and gorging on healthy organic food. Imagine taking unhurried long walks on nature trails, participating in local activities and getting a chance to immerse in the culture of rural folks. So take a break, pause, reflect, enjoy and feel the bliss of nature’s creation. All rural tourism
initiatives foster community-based eco-tourism creating sustainable
livelihoods for villagers where none existed. You can also be a
socially conscientious tourist and be a part of village development.
Here are few establishments:
HELP TOURISM A destination management company that helps the village community with livelihood, conservation and sustainable development through tourism. Visitors get to experience authentic rural life and genuine hospitality of the villagers. Three friends Asit Biswas, Supratim Basu and Sanjeev Ghosh from Siliguri founded Help Tourism way back in 1991. They linked protected areas and natural heritage sites with people livelihood making them owners of responsible tourism. As residents of sylvan Siliguri, the inclination for conservation of natural habitat was always there. They started with Pelling (Sikkim). Manas Jungle is one of many success stories of wildlife conservation through tourism. One of the finest natural riverine grassland was completely ravaged due to forest officials’ apathy, ethnic unrest in Assam and heavy poaching. It was put in Unesco’s red list in 1992, but removed from the danger list in 2011 and praised for its conservation efforts. Help Tourism, through local Bodo tribe involvement in Manas Jungle camp, also had a part in its conservation. Help Tourism operate in East and Northeast India in West Bengal, Assam, Sikkim, Meghalaya and Arunachal Pradesh. Tourist activities include adventure tours, birding, Buddhist circuit, butterfly tours, wildlife, festival, cultural and heritage tours. There are jungle camps, elephant safari and educational camps. Help Tourism has an inclusive approach of development of tourism. All protected areas are surrounded by communities that have been there for ages and whose traditional livelihood depended on natural resources. Commercialisation leads to depletion of these natural resources and the urgency of protection of these areas by the government was necessitated. Help Tourism develop alternative livelihood for these communities through tourism for those interested in conservation and ownership of these natural resources. Manas, Sunderbans, tea estates, forest hills and Dooars, etc. Help Tourism demonstrate a pilot project, train the people, build local capacity, create marketing linkage, foster community ownership, encourage women empowerment and plough back the profit for community development. Accommodation: There are several attractive eco-friendly options depending on the place you visit, for example, Sunderbans jungle camp, Nameri eco camp or heritage tea bungalows in Dibrugarh. There are homestays, tents, tourist lodge, inns, trekkers’ huts and farms to stay. Package cost varies.
Example a 3-nights/4-days, all-inclusive tour package to Sundarbans
Jungle Camp for a couple will cost Rs 35,000. There is flexibility in
tariff though.
Best season: September-December and February-May For 2014, introducing Butterfly Tours in Eastern Himalaya region, Pakke Tiger Reserve in Arunachal Pradesh, festival and cultural tours of Northeast India. Website: www.helptourism.com VILLAGE WAYS They involve village communities wholeheartedly in promoting rural tourism so tourists get to experience rural life in sylvan surroundings and the villagers get livelihood directly or indirectly. The couple Manisha and Himanshu Pande, avid mountaineers, owned a hotel in Binsar (Uttarakhand) thought of rural tourism as a social enterprise that started in 2006. They have a team of professionals with a passion for rural tourism from India and abroad. The objective was to create livelihoods for youth who were migrating to cities. Village destinations: In Binsar Himalayas they operate in villages Dalar, Risal, Satri, Gonap, Kathdhara and Matkanya. There are villages in Saryu and Pindar valleys and campsite in Jakuni. Village Hacra in Thar Desert, villages in Karnataka, Kerala, Sailung district in Nepal and highlands of Ethiopia. Village Ways conduct walking and trekking in Himalayas, camel trek into the dunes, exploring the plantations and backwaters of Kerala, trailing the ruins and coastal beaches of Karnataka. The profits generated are used for the development of newer Village ways destinations. They are self-sufficient in India now. They started working in Nepal last autumn and in Ethiopia too with like-minded NGOs. To sustain village communities, Village Ways try to use local resources (food, buildings, furnishings) wherever possible, their knowledge and traditional skills. There is a responsible tourism committee in each village that collectively takes decisions in a democratic manner. A lot of training, guidance, environment awareness, revival of traditional crafts, management of guest houses and English language skills are imparted to villagers so they themselves conduct tourism effectively. Local guides share their knowledge of flora and fauna with guests, craftsmen use local material and skills to restore guesthouses and incorporate solar panels for lighting and heating. "We are there to help them anytime but the whole purpose of Village Ways is to train the locals in tourism and make them responsible in all aspects of tourism," said Manisha. The beauty of this enterprise is that the tourists are hosted as guests by the locals and if they wish they could join in any of their day-to-day activities. So whether you like farming or cooking, try them with the locals. Accommodation is for 6-8 people at a time in the community-managed guesthouse in a village. There is also ‘Goodearth kettuvallam,’ a traditional-style houseboat in Kerala and Hulgol Spice House in Karnataka. Package cost: All-inclusive package for foreigners. Indians can book the guesthouse and are guided by local guides on identified trails. Example: A two-night stay in Binsar will cost Rs 8,457 (single) to Rs 4,557 (a group of four). Best season: October-May in Binsar and Rajasthan. For 2014: Several packages on offer. Website: www.villageways.com SPITI ECOSPHERE promotes
community based eco-tourism in the remote trans-Himalayan region of
Spiti in Himachal Pradesh. It is high-altitude cold desert region
(3300 mts-4535 mts height).
Ishita Khanna started Ecosphere in 2006 with the aim of linking conservation initiatives with local livelihoods. The Dehradun-bred girl is an avid trekker and an alumnus of TISS (Tata Institute of Social Sciences). Ecosphere conducts trekking, Yak safaris, mountain biking, hiking on Himalayan trails showcasing Spiti’s biodiversity and wildlife, spirituality sojourns to ancient monasteries belonging to Vajrayana Buddhism and showcasing the art and culture. Spiti Ecosphere provides sustainable source of income to villagers through food-processing. They revived the wild indigenous organic products like Seabuckthorn berry (packed with nutrients), bulbs, grains and herbs under the brand name of ‘Tsering Organics’. Thus organic farming and traditional arts and crafts got a new lease of life. You can also be a volunteer (Greening the Desert and Climate Solution Challenge) and directly help the locals by working on green projects generating livelihood, food, reducing carbon print and conservation of the fragile ecology of Spiti. Ishita says that their decade old Greenhouse project has been successful. This not only provides green vegetables to the village throughout the year even when the mercury plummets at -25 degree centigrade but also provides sustainable livelihood. For Climate Solution Challenge, volunteers build solar passive houses and solar baths. All Ecosphere trips include conservation charge that is ploughed back towards conservation and development initiatives in the region. They are committed to make the region carbon neutral so they invest in renewable energy options such as passive solar houses, green houses, solar water- heating systems and cookers, solar and wind energy alternatives. Accomodation: Traditional Homestays, Monastery Guesthouses, hotels or even tents. Package cost: The trip cost varies from Rs 12000-Rs 30000 (Budget or Comfort options). For example: Tariff for a family of four, for seven days is Rs 13,000. For volunteers, it is Rs 700/day (food and accommodation).Best season: June-October. For 2014, summer they have fixed departures for Kinnaur & Spiti, jeep safari, volunteering in Spiti, Pin Bhaba trek and Spiti kaleidoscope apart from custom tours. Website: www.spitiecosphere.com GRASSROUTES This group conducts
rural tours that let you engage in villagers’ day-to-day activities
to get a do-it-yourself feel of rural life. They endeavour to train
the villagers so the tourism is owned, managed and run by the local
community. Inir Pinheiro, an MBA from Xavier Institute of Management,
Bhubaneshwar was so taken in by the sufferings of the villagers in
village Purushwadi (Maharashtra) that with the collaboration of NGO
Watershed, he decided to create sustainable livelihood through
tourism. The Grassroute destinations include villages Purushwadi,
Valwanda and Dehna in Maharashtra. It involves 180 households where
the level of income has increased up to 30 per cent since Grassroute’s
intervention. For tourists there are lot of activities like
agricultural activities (ploughing, sowing, transplanting,
harvesting), daily household activities (chopping of wood, drawing
water from wells and cooking local cuisine), adventure (swimming in
rivers, trekking, nature trails), sightseeing (various temples,
fortress, dams) and cultural activities (dance with tribals, learn
Warli art). The Grassroutes team develops three assets. The physical
asset includes homestays, tents and toilets. The human asset means
intensively training the women and youth for hospitality and community
asset in way of forming village tourism committees and creating
village development funds. "This way, rural tourism has a
multiplier effect in terms of income and livelihood creation for
villagers without their moving out of villages,"said Inir.
Suppose a family visits a village, three families get involved as
guides, cooks and for housekeeping. Then the villagers also get to
sell their arts and crafts and local agricultural produce. Inir says
there is now lot of attitudinal changes with villagers’ interaction
with tourists. Now youth are more inclined for higher education, learn
about conservation of Accommodation is provided in homestays or tents. Package cost: It varies according to duration of stay and guests. Example- The all-inclusive weekend tariff for Dehna is Rs 2,205/person/night and child Rs 1,260/night. Tariff is lesser for weekdays. Best season: Throughout the year. For 2014 the highlights are sighting of fireflies in Purushwadi village in June and in Dehna in September. Monsoon tour of Dehna that receives highest rainfall in Maharshtra. Website: http://grassroutes.co.in/ India untravelled India Untravelled is a social enterprise that helps local rural community sustains tourism through their digital marketing tool. They have partner destinations, mostly village-run initiatives where tourism is an alternate source of livelihood to farming. In 2012, Shivya Nath started ‘India Untravelled’ along with a friend Siddharth Goel. She got the idea while visiting a family in a picturesque organic farm in rural Punjab. This was a responsible travel initiative started by one family. "The warmth and hospitality gave me a glimpse of India beyond the cities, but the absence of a marketing plan meant little revenue for sustenance of this small-scale initiative", said Shivya. Hence she started India untravelled where she uses her digital marketing expertise so potential travelers are inspired to travel responsibly. The team expanded to include Alap Parikh and Sifti Dhillon. States: Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Rajasthan, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and upcoming in West Bengal and Sikkim. Activities include offbeat and local experiences. Village walks, volunteering, hiking, cycling, and farming activities, cultural celebrations and others. For example, learn Punjabi cooking and celebrate harvest festival of Baisakhi in a Punjabi village. Responsible tourism by India Untravelled helps preserve the ecology, heritage, art and traditions of the region. The revenue from tourism benefits local village communities. They have helped 11 families and 7 rural communities with alternate livelihood, and helps conserve and protect the local heritage and ecology in 9 sub-regions. They constantly reach out to people to spread awareness about responsible, sustainable, community driven and carbon neutral travel, encouraging and enabling travellers to make more responsible choices. Accommodations are provided in homestay, eco-forest camp or farm stay. For example, Prakriti farm stay in Punjab has traditional cottage or Swiss tents, all with western bathrooms. Cost: For a two-nights stay at an organic farm (Prakriti farm) in rural Punjab, the all-inclusive tariff ranges from Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000. A one-week, all-inclusive trekking trip to Himalayas may cost 16,000-32,000 per person. Best season: Depends on location. In 2014, the fixed trips are Kinnaur & Spiti safari (May), volunteer travel in Spiti (June), Spiti (August and September) and Pin-Bhabha trek (August). The new trails are secrets of the Kumaon Himalayas, Darjeeling and Sikkim: Explorations in the Eastern Himalayas and Goa Untravelled. Website: http://indiauntravelled.com/index.html http://the-shooting-star.com/2012/04/08/india-untravelled/ Benefits of responsible rural tourism
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Rural tourism showcases
the life, art, culture and heritage of villages. City dwellers rural
traditions and hardships of rural people. In remote areas where job
opportunities are limited and young headed for cities, there is loss
of traditional knowledge and skills that could be reintroduced as
curious travellers flock to these places and boost their economy.
Dying art and skills could be revived and sustained. Locals share
their knowledge of the local environment thus discovering their value
and respecting them. Social enterprises promote tours and profit is
pumped back into the village for its development. It’s a win-win
situation for travellers and locals who are stakeholders. Use of local
materials for construction and natural energy-saving technology like
solar heating promotes eco-tourism. Self-help groups employ women for
processing of fruits and vegetables. In homestays women earn money as
they look after the guests. check rural-to-urban migration, bring
about social change and protect the environment.