TBI Blogs: Want A Vacation That Takes You Back to the Roots and Transforms Lives? Try Rural Tourism

With its amazing diversity and variety, India is a tourism hotspot and sought after travel destinations for travellers from all across the world. Capitalising on this, and the growth and potential of Rural India, rural tourism has really made its presence felt recently. Shubhda Chaudhary explores this growing tourism sector further.

Slowly, Indian villages are witnessing a nascent change. Embracing their culture, tradition, natural resources, and artisanship, rural tourism is escalating how much importance India bestows on its rustic spirit. Starting from skill generation and subsistence to highlighting the traditional interplay of myriad communities, rural tourism is silently creating miracles, triumphantly.

As India braces for new endeavours, rural tourism has also advanced silently, turning into a major economical benefactor for communities, cultures, and traditions. The storytelling of rural tourism in India is nuanced with rich cultural experiences, oral history, linguistic traditions, old rituals, biodiversity, and an empowering interplay of historical narratives. With the advancement in rural tourism, Indian villages, which for long had been persistently dependent on paltry agricultural income, have attained limelight, bestowing them with identity, infrastructure, and development capacity. In fact, rural tourism, which is still being experimented in India, has the capability to reduce the burgeoning gap between urban and rural India.

The Ministry of Tourism has also started developing and financing villages on the basis of their USPs like culture and bamboo craft, eco-tourism, spiritual life, Himachal heritage, Gurukul structure, folk dance, historical and tribal culture, mirror work, embroidery, and other essential talents.

Rural tourism has started to play a very empowering in India role as it has started to build up weakening economies by injecting financial investment, infrastructural growth, job retention, and even conservation of bio-diversity. Some emerging and well-established start-ups that have been playing a significant role in rural tourism include Grassroutes, Pahadi House, Ecologin, India Untraveled, and Travel Another India. By creating innovative business models, these start-ups have started promoting the potential of rural communities and emerging youth by harnessing their zeal and projecting their adventurous, eco-friendly, and rustic beauty. Instead of opting for discovering famous historical sites, even the domestic market is witnessing a switch. People want to experience the rural lifestyle, and spend weekends in unknown areas of India, away from bustling city life. After all, India is known for its unique dialects, history, and heritage, that frequently change from one village to another.

Various communities in Maharashtra, Nagaland, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, and Bihar have started witnessing slow change. The positive impact is visible for these communities which – in spite of their traditional and rustic richness – we initially ignored. Today, the villages have their own identity, apart from agriculture,. Even the women have started indulging in various handicrafts and other vocations that have helped them rise above anonymity. The concept of ‘responsible tourism’ is also connected with rural tourism. This further stresses respecting the culture, tradition, and sanctity of the communities, therefore giving them protection, empowerment and financial security.

Explore the various rural tourism options offered by Grassroutes Journeys on their website.

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