Empowering Local Businesses<\/strong><\/em>
\nConsider the individual who lives in his own house in a village, with a small plot of farm land. He eats fresh food, breathes fresh air and has a social circle. Forced to leave his home, he travels to the city, where he lives in dirty shanties looking for daily wage work and has no access to education or healthcare.<\/p>\nTourism is perfectly placed to promote reverse migration. We are able to put to use resources that are locally available and create a sustainable business for local communities.<\/p>\n
Take, for instance, Orchha, a small town in Madhya Pradesh with a population of just 9,000. Orchha\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s rich heritage makes it a popular tourist destination. Locals started to work in Orchha\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s famous hotels as the tourist inflow gathered pace. Many went on to become entrepreneurs, opening cafes or retail stores. Some are expert guides and conduct tours. The local activities and crafts of the area are thus thriving.<\/p>\n
A smaller example is that of Sattal, a hamlet in the hills 15 km from Nainital. The boatmen of Sattal were extremely poor as they waited for busloads of people to come from Nainital for day picnics, which happened only in the peak season of April, May and June. While each boat ride cost Rs 200, the boatman would earn only Rs 50. They earned barely Rs 50,000 for the entire year.<\/p>\n
The first hotel started operations in Sattal in 2011, and provided guests with complimentary boating. Soon, customers started trickling in even during the lean season. In that first year, 2,000 customers stayed at the resort. As occupancy rose, so did the boatmen\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s income.<\/p>\n
At Rs 200 per trip, the boatmen were totally able to earn Rs 4,00,000 from us alone! Given 10 boats, it still meant Rs 40,000 per boatman only from us, almost equivalent to what they earned from day tourists. And then something else happened. As Sattal became a well-known tourist destination, new resorts and hotels came up. The number of boats increased several fold. In just a few years, tourism enabled the entire village of Sattal to generate ample employment and prosper.<\/p>\n
Linking Micro Supply Chains<\/strong><\/em>
\nThe plight of marginal farmers is a constant source of contention, with economists propagating further price reduction in agricultural commodities. Meanwhile, customers still pay high prices owing to supply and logistics constraints. So how does tourism help?<\/p>\nMeet Bashir Khan, a marginal farmer in Ramgarh who has a 1,000-square yard plot. He grows lemon grass, a herb popular for its oil extract. From his sparse available land, Bashir produces roughly 500 ml of oil a day. While the unsuspecting customer usually bought the oil at Rs 200-500 per 50 ml bottle, Bashir was forced to sell his produce for a meagre Rs 150 per litre! Impressed with the quality of extract and the low prices, tourists heading to Ramgarh started to buy the oil directly from Bashir. Surprised at the price he offered, they educated him about the demand and prices of comparable products in Delhi. Bashir now supplies to retail shops in Delhi.<\/p>\n
Tourism has this ability to create a market for local products and match demand at that very destination, all while keeping prices attractive for customers.<\/p>\n
Reviving Arts And Crafts<\/strong><\/em>
\nIndian design has been applauded for ages, yet, absurdly, we see Indian towns, cities and even the more affluent villages emulate western design, with concrete structures and the modern architecture of the West. Ironically, the poorest villages retain forgotten Indian designs \u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u20ac\u009d mud structures, thatched roofs and tiles, and make for the most beautiful settings.<\/p>\nClose to Mhaismal, a small hill station near Aurangabad, are the last two remaining households that work on the beautiful \u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u20ac\u009d but vanishing \u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u20ac\u009d metal art form of Bidri. Today, it\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00e2\u201e\u00a2s in desperate need of support in the region. As resorts opened in Mhaismal, customers were able to visit the craftsmen’s homes and appreciate their art. One discerning guest even ordered the metalworks for her website, and as orders poured in, the Bidri trend caught on.<\/p>\n
Tourism can revive arts that were once lost. Tourists can visit craftsmen, see their works and create new channels of demand. Its power in reshaping and rejuvenating the Indian economy should not be underestimated.<\/p>\n
Source:\u00c3\u201a\u00c2\u00a0yourstory.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"India is on its way to becoming one of the greatest nations in the world. Some, like Masayoshi Son, the founder-CEO of SoftBank, back this statement not with mere words but capital, while others believe in its very essence and<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[331,330,6],"tags":[336,510,351,864,659],"class_list":["post-1598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tours-to-india","category-travel-in-india","category-village-tours","tag-holidays-in-india","tag-incredible-india","tag-india-tourism","tag-india-tourism-story","tag-india-travel"],"yoast_head":"\n
How Tourism can Revive the India Story - Shikhar Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/how-tourism-can-revive-the-india-story\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How Tourism can Revive the India Story - Shikhar Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"India is on its way to becoming one of the greatest nations in the world. Some, like Masayoshi Son, the founder-CEO of SoftBank, back this statement not with mere words but capital, while others believe in its very essence and\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/how-tourism-can-revive-the-india-story\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shikhar Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/shikhar.travels\/?ref=bookmarks\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/shikhar.travels\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-08-30T05:19:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Tourism-India.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Shikhar Travels\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/ShikharIndia\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Shikhar Travels\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/how-tourism-can-revive-the-india-story\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/how-tourism-can-revive-the-india-story\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Shikhar Travels\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/20b248b1d62ca1d38a28dee844f038fa\"},\"headline\":\"How Tourism can Revive the India Story\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-08-30T05:19:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/how-tourism-can-revive-the-india-story\/\"},\"wordCount\":804,\"commentCount\":2,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/how-tourism-can-revive-the-india-story\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Tourism-India.png\",\"keywords\":[\"holidays in India\",\"Incredible India\",\"india tourism\",\"India tourism Story\",\"india travel\"],\"articleSection\":[\"tours to India\",\"Travel in India\",\"Village Tours\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/how-tourism-can-revive-the-india-story\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/how-tourism-can-revive-the-india-story\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/how-tourism-can-revive-the-india-story\/\",\"name\":\"How Tourism can Revive the India Story - Shikhar Blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/how-tourism-can-revive-the-india-story\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/how-tourism-can-revive-the-india-story\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Tourism-India.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2016-08-30T05:19:46+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/20b248b1d62ca1d38a28dee844f038fa\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/how-tourism-can-revive-the-india-story\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/how-tourism-can-revive-the-india-story\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/how-tourism-can-revive-the-india-story\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Tourism-India.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Tourism-India.png\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/how-tourism-can-revive-the-india-story\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How Tourism can Revive the India Story\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Shikhar Blog\",\"description\":\"Travel Experiences - Sharing Travel Memories Around the World\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/20b248b1d62ca1d38a28dee844f038fa\",\"name\":\"Shikhar Travels\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/884ac76d5db6c0f1832abb7d786848da5ccfe51e68e33bb3520401f298d94425?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/884ac76d5db6c0f1832abb7d786848da5ccfe51e68e33bb3520401f298d94425?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Shikhar Travels\"},\"description\":\"Shikhar Travels India Destination Management Company since 1979 based in India. We provide travel solutions for Adventure, Leisure, Cultural, Special Interest.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.shikhar.com\",\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/shikhar.travels\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/shikhartravels\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/shikhar-travels-india\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/ShikharIndia\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCklsLnhac-yrpNt5Wm_f3WQ?view_as=subscriber\",\"https:\/\/www.tumblr.com\/blog\/view\/shikhartravels\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How Tourism can Revive the India Story - Shikhar Blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/how-tourism-can-revive-the-india-story\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"How Tourism can Revive the India Story - Shikhar Blog","og_description":"India is on its way to becoming one of the greatest nations in the world. Some, like Masayoshi Son, the founder-CEO of SoftBank, back this statement not with mere words but capital, while others believe in its very essence and","og_url":"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/how-tourism-can-revive-the-india-story\/","og_site_name":"Shikhar Blog","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/shikhar.travels\/?ref=bookmarks","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/shikhar.travels","article_published_time":"2016-08-30T05:19:46+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Tourism-India.png","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"author":"Shikhar Travels","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/ShikharIndia","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Shikhar Travels","Estimated reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/how-tourism-can-revive-the-india-story\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/how-tourism-can-revive-the-india-story\/"},"author":{"name":"Shikhar Travels","@id":"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/20b248b1d62ca1d38a28dee844f038fa"},"headline":"How Tourism can Revive the India Story","datePublished":"2016-08-30T05:19:46+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/how-tourism-can-revive-the-india-story\/"},"wordCount":804,"commentCount":2,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/how-tourism-can-revive-the-india-story\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Tourism-India.png","keywords":["holidays in India","Incredible India","india tourism","India tourism Story","india travel"],"articleSection":["tours to India","Travel in India","Village Tours"],"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/how-tourism-can-revive-the-india-story\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/how-tourism-can-revive-the-india-story\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/how-tourism-can-revive-the-india-story\/","name":"How Tourism can Revive the India Story - Shikhar Blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/how-tourism-can-revive-the-india-story\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/how-tourism-can-revive-the-india-story\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Tourism-India.png","datePublished":"2016-08-30T05:19:46+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/20b248b1d62ca1d38a28dee844f038fa"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/how-tourism-can-revive-the-india-story\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/how-tourism-can-revive-the-india-story\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/how-tourism-can-revive-the-india-story\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Tourism-India.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Tourism-India.png"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/how-tourism-can-revive-the-india-story\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How Tourism can Revive the India Story"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/","name":"Shikhar Blog","description":"Travel Experiences - Sharing Travel Memories Around the World","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/20b248b1d62ca1d38a28dee844f038fa","name":"Shikhar Travels","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/884ac76d5db6c0f1832abb7d786848da5ccfe51e68e33bb3520401f298d94425?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/884ac76d5db6c0f1832abb7d786848da5ccfe51e68e33bb3520401f298d94425?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Shikhar Travels"},"description":"Shikhar Travels India Destination Management Company since 1979 based in India. We provide travel solutions for Adventure, Leisure, Cultural, Special Interest.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.shikhar.com","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/shikhar.travels","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/shikhartravels\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/shikhar-travels-india","https:\/\/x.com\/https:\/\/twitter.com\/#!\/ShikharIndia","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/channel\/UCklsLnhac-yrpNt5Wm_f3WQ?view_as=subscriber","https:\/\/www.tumblr.com\/blog\/view\/shikhartravels"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1598","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1598"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1598\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1600,"href":"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1598\/revisions\/1600"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Tourism](\"https:\/\/www.shikhar.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/Tourism-India.png\")
<\/a><\/p>\n