Rural Tourism

Sarita Brara**,,

Last year when Vivek Sherode from Pune told his children that he was taking them for a holiday, they were more than excited “Will their father take them to Mumbai or Goa?”They started guessing among themselves? But Vivek had some other plans this time. He had heard about village tourism and this time he wanted to give his children the taste of village life. The children were disappointed when they first came to know about it. But the moment they landed in a village they fell in love with the place. For them it was a different world altogether. Vivek said he had never seen his children so happy as they ran about, sometimes climbing the tree to pluck chikoos or riding a bullock cart or a tractor or simply playing with water at the village well. Vivek said that he had never seen his family enjoy the holiday so much as in this village. He said at night the local dance and music with rustic flavor was organized, something they would never had the chance to see in a city.

Living in high rise buildings amidst noise and coping with the fast paced life, people want to get away from the daily hustle and bustle for a quiet holiday and breathe fresh air. Rural tourism as a concept was envisaged in the National Tourism policy in 2002. It was defined as a form of tourism that showcases village life, art, culture and heritage at rural locations, thereby benefiting the local community economically and socially as well as enabling interaction between the tourists and the locals for a more enriching tourism experience.

Rural Tourism Scheme

The Rural Tourism Scheme was formulated with a focus on developing tourism related infrastructure that would help promote village tourism. This was later supplemented by a pilot project Endogenous Tourism Project (ETP) in collaboration with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) by building and strengthening tourism livelihoods-linked capacities of local communities. The project also aimed at convergence of issues like sustainable livelihoods, gender equality, empowerment of women, youth and other disadvantaged sections of the community, and working towards cultural sensitivity and environmental sustainability.

Since 2006 the funding of the capacity building activities has also been going on under the capacity building scheme of the Ministry of Tourism.

Panduranga, who is into rural tourism says that in Maharshtra, village tourism took birth in Baramati district in 2004 as a pilot project spread over 110 acres of land. There is horticulture plantation in the 65 acre area. He says when they urban tourists come, they are also able to see silk processing units, milk dairies and fruit plantations. Another objective of encouraging rural tourism was to curb migration from rural to urban areas. Since 2004 more than 200 centres of rural and farm tourism have been developed in Maharashtra and more than a lakh of tourists have had the taste of village life. In addition extra income to the farmers, the unemployed youth in villages have also been roped into the activities connected with rural tourism.

Rajasthan is another state where rural tourism has developed fast over the years. Rajasthan is not only famous for historical monuments and places of worship but also for its rich culture be its performing arts or crafts or dance and music. According to Vijay Deep Singh of Murarka Foundations they have developed several packages not only for the Indian tourists but tourists from place like America, France, England and even Switzerland. He says that many tourists want to stay with villagers in their homes to get first hand flavour of local life, cuisine and culture. Under one such packages the tourists are charged 1200 rupees per day for one day and night of which 850 rupees are paid to the farmers family. For the tourists it is not expensive and the farmer too is able to earn extra money.

In Punjab it is farm tourism that has become the favourite. One can walk along the golden mustard fields, take a ride on the tractor, take the cattle for grazing or feed them, get to drink fresh buttermilk in the green fields with Makki ki Roti and Saag, enjoy the folk dance Bhangra and get to see the making of the local craft phulkari and also meet the village community and the Panchayat. The tourists also get to participate or simply watch local games like wrestling, Gilidanda , kite flying. Children too can experience the joy of jumping on the hay and taking bath in the tube wells.

Many other states too are now giving encouragement to rural tourism.

12th Plan Strategy to Boost Rural Tourism

The working group on tourism for the 12th plan observed that due to several reasons, the rural tourism projects have achieved only limited success. It has suggested a strategy that can exploit the full potential of rural tourism.

The strategy for developing rural tourism is focussed on phased development of cluster of villages for tourism instead of individual villages.

It says that the concentration of tourism facilities or opportunities in a cluster of villages in a geographically compact area, rather than in a number of individual villages spread across vast areas, is likely to provide better tourism attraction.

Another advantage is that marketing of local products can be facilitated by holding Craft Bazars or Haats, a concept which has been in vogue throughout the country for a long time. Also it is more practical and cost effective for tour operators to take a busload or a group of large number of tourists to a rural tourism cluster, which offers more variety and opportunities of shopping, and exposure to customs, lifestyles, local arts and artisans/ artists, including performing arts.

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*The author is a Freelance Writer.

Disclaimer: The views expressed by the author in this article are her own and do not necessarily reflect the views of INVC.