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Rural Tourism - a Sustainable Initiative

Overview – Tourism

Tourism industry has been accepted to be means of economic development unanimously

all over the world. But over the years, the impacts of these tourism activities on the

destinations being developed are being studied, which demonstrate clearly that tourism

poses as much of a threat as an a opportunity to these places. On one hand tourism

brings in more and more people visiting a region thus increasing the interactions and

social development but on the other hand it also creates competition at every level of

business activities thus putting up people against each other at every level within the

entire development system.

The deterioration in terms of physical harm to the elements of tourist interest like built

monuments, buildings, natural bio-diversity is becoming quite an urgent issue to be

addressed. More significantly, due to the improper maintenance of sites, due to over

aggressive marketing of facilities like hawkers and hotel establishment, results in an

overall degradation of the actual tourist experiences. This leads to the realization of

having alternative options of tourism which would essentially focus on the cultural

aspects of a site and of delivering a clean quite experience. Alternatives could be

initiatives such as geo-tourism, eco-tourism, and responsible tourism, all of them falling

broadly within the framework of Rural Tourism.

Rural Tourism

Rural tourism basically developed with the aim of giving more attention and importance

to the local natives of a particular place which is termed as community – based tourism.

This growing trend brought to notice the potential of rural areas to be established as

tourism destinations. Though there are no specific criteria for a project to be called as

‘rural tourism’, a few guidelines have been put forth by scholars to identify rural areas;

firstly population density and size of settlement secondly land use and economy and

thirdly traditional social structures.

Within this framework also, a diverse typology is observed in the nature of tourism

activities. It is possible that though it is situated in a rural region, the activities taking

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place are quite urban in nature, eg. Corporate trainings, adventure sports, etc. In

England, the idea of rural tourism is that of a simple bed & breakfast, in Japan the same

being seen in form of home-stays or farm stays while in Malaysia it operates as

government endorsed agritourism centres. The defining element in categorizing a

project as rural tourism is that functionally, it should aim to preserve the ecology such as

rare plants, animal species, keep intact the unique features which characterize the local

identity of the place as well as make thorough use of locally available rural resources.

Rural tourism can be utilised an as essential tool to strike a balance between

conservation and development, protect and enhance the rural environment while at the

same time reduce the impacts of tourism pressures on urban places. With respect to

developing countries, rural tourism can play a very significant role in counteracting the

destructive impacts of tourism activities and also of redirecting the masses so as to relive

the urban over crowded places from the pressures of tourism demand.

Tourist destinations

(Forts, monuments etc.)

Rural India Urban India

Thus far

unexplored

Often the focal

centre for tourism

activities

Rural craft villages in

urban locations e.g.

Shilparamam - presently

gaining popularity

•Not all rural destinations would classify as tourism destinations

•Only ones with inherent tourism attractions like arts and crafts, heritage, religious significance etc.

would qualify

Focus area for

“Rural Tourism

Initiative”

Bridging the Rural-Urban

Gap

Fig. 1: Bridging the Rural – Urban gap

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In context of India, a study undertaken by Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce &

Industry (FICCI) brings to notice the overlap of tourist destinations with urban regions in

India and rural regions in India as demonstration in Fig. 1: Bridging the Rural – Urban gap. It

is obvious our country demonstrates tremendous potential in terms of rural tourism

initiatives due to the vast diversity of cultures, traditional lifestyles, languages which are

found spread intensely in almost all the nooks and corners of the country. Thus, Rural

Tourism in India is emerging as one of the most effective means to advance the local

economy, generate employment opportunities and also revitalize the dying local cultural,

traditional skills and lifestyles.

Sustainable aspects for promoting Rural Tourism

The unique selling point of rural tourism lies in its absolute simplicity. A village is prepared

so as to showcase itself and the daily routine life of the local communities. A visitor is to

be welcomed as he would be in someone’s home. This way of welcoming tourists in itself

defines the entire set-up of tourism structure. Rather than changing and modifying the

authentic character of the village by putting up in-compatible structures or means for the

tourists, they are introduced to the way of life of the villagers. They shall be received by

the locals, invited to share meals prepared by the local families, taken around the village

by the locals, engaged into activities which are part of daily life of the villagers such as

farming, milking cows, preparing meals, fetching water from the wells and most exciting

of all which is to soak up the pure and unspoilt atmosphere of the clean n crisp rural

climate.

It is to be emphasized to the local communities, the body responsible for setting up the

management structure as well as the visitors that the village and its elements of

traditional way of life should be accepted in its entirety. No demands in terms of

infrastructure, amenities or entertainment should be introduced which will be perceived

as disturbance and unwelcome by the natives of the host destinations. If any,

constructive additions such as research and documentation of its unique features and

means of conserving the same should be suggested to be implemented.

The primary role of tourism activities is to make the village self sufficient while giving a

highly sought after break to the tourists coming in from the urban centres or abroad.

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Thus, it is essential to keep in mind that the chief beneficiaries of economic, social and

cultural benefits have to be the local communities. The economic benefits would

minimize the need to migrate to cities for basic necessities of life while the interactions

with visitors who are highly educated and from diverse cultures and outlooks would

inspire the youth to opt for higher studies and gaining qualifications to have a stable

means of earning. Having a means of livelihood within their native regions, that of

tourism development should reduce the unemployment issue.

Issues and Challenges

The most critical challenge for management of tourism sites is to successfully preserve

the original fabric of the place while at the same time providing a fulfilling experience for

the visitors as well. A key conflict arises between natives of the place who consider it

being a part of their personal identity thus expecting privacy and the managers who are

responsible for the access and commercial aspects of the tourism development. In case

of rural regions the ecological bio-diversity is relatively untouched, which adds to the

appeal of the place, hence special efforts should be ensured to not to disturb the natural

fabric of the villages. Apart from the environmental fragility of the areas, some

operational issues faced such as uncooperative political scenario, need of trained

manpower, lack of funds, indifference of local population, inadequate skills like

knowledge, communication ability required for tourism operators, lack of efficient and

widespread marketing pose a challenge to the progress of rural tourism.

Like observed in a small village in Daund district of Maharashtra, the village of Swami

Chincholi proudly exhibits a 300 year old temple precinct, extraordinary ornamentations

in woodwork in the residential structures. A member of the village being the trustee of

temple precinct along with the co-operation of few local families and backing of the

village Sarpanch (head of village) demonstrate a will to develop their region for rural

tourism ventures. An option to overcome these issues could be attempted by creating

and promoting a model project where the native communities would have complete

responsibility for establishing their region for tourism as well as management and

monitoring the smooth functioning of the same. This model is based on the fact that it

brings the profits right back into their economy thus ensuring self sustainability.

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Conclusion

Rural tourism projects highlight variety of aspects and issues such as preservation of

biodiversity, strengthening the local economy, providing sustainable means of livelihood.

Attention to safeguarding the local culture, traditions, skills and way life unique to that

region underlines all of these aspects. The main issues to be addressed when developing

a region for rural tourism are those of access – restricted vs. Unrestricted; discouraging

damage to site occurring due to tourism activities while at the same time to provide a

unique, enjoyable experience to the visitors of the traditional and authentic character of

the place. If implemented successfully, rural tourism can be used as a tool to fill in the

gap of urban-rural divide through tourism activities on national scale. These initiatives

also contribute significantly to improving the standard of life for the locals by stimulating

a sense of pride in their traditional and cultural identity. Thus, Rural tourism can

showcase our authentic way of life with pride and dignity to the visitors from national

and well as from all over the world while making the rural areas self-sufficient in

themselves.

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Typical Rural Setting in India

Heritage Resources: 300 yr old Ram Mandir precinct at Swami Chincholi village in Daund, Maharashtra

Lunch provided at a local family’s house