Help Tourism

Sunday, April 26, 2009, 15:00 Hrs [IST]
Plans to organise Webinar at WTM, London and ITB, Asia
By TBM Staff | New Delhi

TravelBizmonitor.com

International Centre for Responsible Tourism (ICRT) India organised a Webinar (online seminar) day before yesterday in New Delhi. A large number participated in the seminar, which provided information on Responsible Tourism practices in India and abroad. It provided a common platform to various Responsible Tourism stake holders in India to share their Responsible Tourism practices with other participants. It has also offered and extended its support to other individuals who are interested in Responsible Tourism practices in India.

The Webinar was moderated by Sally Broom, YourSafePlanet.com and some of the participants who attended the event online included Raj Gyawali, socialtreks.com and Valere Tjolle from VISION on Sustainable Tourism – tourism-vision.com. Supratim Raj Basu from Help Tourism; Gopinath Parayil, Founder & Chief Executive from Blue Yonder Holidays; Ashish Gupta, Director Asia from Travel to Care.com; Sajo Paul, Chairman, ICRT India were among the distinguished Responsible Tourism stake holders from India who were physically present for the event. “There are plans to organise Responsible Tourism webinar at World Travel Market in London, ITB Asia etc.” informed Parayil.

source: http://www.travelbizmonitor.com/icrt-india-gets-good-response-for-responsible-tourism-webinar-6215

The Green Circuit is an initiative started  in February 2009. It tries to bring together some of the best ‘responsible’ products in the sub-continent together in a circuit, which can then be offered to travellers all around the world. The idea is to make this information known using each others websites and the promotions that we all individualy do, creating a mass awareness of responsible practices, and also generating business for all involved.

It is aimed to become a win win situation where ‘responsible’ operators and products hand hold, share, learn, link (which are all responsible practices in itself) to the betterment of the whole.

With an aim to also make the trip “greener”, we will also support by providing information and service support to connect to these products using train and ground travel. The products are also convieniently developed around international airport, so that access is easy.

Nepal: the Tamang Heritage Trail

17 days, heritage sightseeing, moderate trekking, jungle safari
from £ 675 per person

About 150 years ago, Nepal fought Tibet over salt, and some of the biggest areas where this war took place is in the Langtang Region of Nepal, wherein lies the third most popular trekking trail in Nepal. This area is connected to Tibet and the trails in this region were used by traders from Tibet bartering in Salt and mountain goats for meat (changra) with foodstuffs from the south. Developed by the Tourism for Rural Poverty Alleviation Program, the “Tamang Heritage Trail” is the newly developed tourism product, off the beaten track, which highlights an ancient lifestyle combining it with picturesque scenery and healing baths in natural hot springs.
Read more…

Eastern Himalaya: Red Panda Tea and Elephant Trail

22 days, culture, wildlife and tea gardens
from INR 67,000 per pax nett

East Himalaya is a part of one of the EIGHT HOTTEST BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOTS of the world. This is a part of the Indo-Burma region. Other then India, the East Himalaya touches the countries of Nepal, Bhutan, Tibet, China, Myanmar and Bangladesh. Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim and West Bengal occupies more than 100,000 sq. kms of East Himalaya approx. which is about 25% of the Indian Himalaya. This shows a major portion of the Himalaya is existent in the East. Similarly, the whole of Nepal and Bhutan are a part of the East Himalaya.
Read more…

East India: Orissa Odyssey

15 Days Kolkata – Visakhapatnam
from 980 Euros per person

An epic adventure through timeless India; stretching from the bustle of India’s renown cultural capital Kolkata, through vast tracts of pastoral plains and palm-fringed paddies, to dense mangroves and tranquil boat rides twisting though the tangled mangrove forest of Bhitarkanika National Park. From natural wonders to the irrepressible man-made marvels of ancient India’s earliest temples at Bhubaneshwar and Konark to the sea swept coastal town of Puri, one of India’s Char Dhams (four holy hotspots of Hinduism). Cruise along Chilika Lake, Asia’s largest salt lake lagoon and camp under a starlit sky
Read more…

South India – The Malabar Holidays

14 days, culture, spice tour, beaches, homestays
from 815 USD net per person

Malabar was once a British Principality of India. After Independence, Malabar as a state was no longer recognized and the region was divided to form the northern part of what is today called Kerala. Though Malabar has no geographical boundaries, no presence on a map of India, it still exists as a state of mind: laid-back, slow, to live and let live. This is the spirit we capture in this package that begins with Cochin and goes along backwaters, River Nila, Mountains of Wayanad, and ends at the virgin beaches of Kannur in Malabar region.
Read more…

Follow the GREEN circuit on this interactive map:

View Green Circuit, Indian Subcontinent in a larger map

We (Help Tourism & ACT team) were in two minds before attending the ICRT conference, the second after the Cape Town conference in 2002. The reasons being:

• Fees & conveyance:
  With the amount that would be spent for attending the conference, would be almost equivalent to building three toilets for our recent community project called Dihing River Camp. The same is expected to be functional by October, 2008.
• Conference venue & delegate accommodation options:
  Our understanding of the principles of responsible tourism and the use of 5-star convention venue and also options for delegates to stay in the star hotels, whose responsible policy was not known, this was somewhat a question for us.

We decided to join the conference after several discussions realizing the fact that the East & Northeast India would go unrepresented in a declaration on responsible tourism being held in India. That several representatives from the Government of India, Department of Tourism and the state Governments would be attending the conference and we would influence them to draw a policy based on responsible tourism. The last but not the least, our presentation will help to influence the declaration on issues that we have been discussing locally.

We did gain something from the conference

• Network with delegates nationally & internationally who thought on the same lines like us
• Our presentation could influence the declaration through its acceptance of the fact that the community participation phenomenon was the core strength of the responsible tourism movement, and that travel warnings by tourist originating countries on host countries should be more responsible
• Contact people who were interested in our cross-border tourism & conservation issues
• The interaction with the South Africa team, where the 2002 or the first declaration took place on their views that: Policy to action is still far to go in their country, the policy should be considered from the community priority, i.e. bottom up policy

The outcome of the conference, the Kerala Declaration on Responsible Tourism sets a both promising and challenging framework for the way ahead. For the next conference hopefully we have already gone as far as to allow more ground practicioners sharing their experience – their knowledge is too valuable as to set them aside because participation would be too costly for them.

Raj will present Help Tourism’s experiences in tourism in the East Himalaya at the 2008 International Conference on “Responsible Tourism in Destinations”, to be held in Kochi, Kerala from 21st to 24th of March. 

SUNDAY 23rd MARCH
SESSION IV (9.00A.M. TO 11.00 A.M.)
CASE STUDIES FROM INDIAN DESTINATIONS

Help Tourism model in East Himalaya – Supratim (Raj) Basu, Director, Help Tourism Community based tourism in the biodiversity hotspots of Eastern Himalayas.
A model for South and South East Asia