Sustainable Tourism Practices: Insights from Tribal Communities in India

Recently, community-based tourism has gained increasing recognition because it is sustainable and democratizing. Many countries, including India, are promoting community-based tourism in an effort to guarantee the sustainable livelihood of those working in the tourism sector and to promote industry growth. Therefore, in this article, we are going to discuss Sustainable Tourism Practices: Insights from Tribal Communities in India. Additionally, if you are seeking cheap flight tickets to India from Canada, make sure to check out our best online travel website, Tripbeam.

What is Community-Based Tourism?

Community-based tourism, which is operated and controlled locally by local communities, is One-of-a-kind tourism. Here, residents come together and organise tourism-related resources in a way that ensures the fair and sustainable growth of the town. More democratic authority over decision-making is granted to the local populace, which encourages resource efficiency and protects the region’s significant biodiversity and ecosystem.

Community-based tourism also preserves the cultural and traditional aspects of the community that the locals have been practising for a very long time while providing tourists with a taste of the unique customs of the area.

Evolution of Community-Based Tourism in India

While the concept of community-based tourism has been growing in India for some time, it has gained momentum recently because of the nation’s vast geographical area, unique socio-cultural diversity, and government emphasis on sustainable tourism.

In this regard, plenty of people from across the world are attracted to India in particular to the tribes there, which display a tremendous amount of cultural variety as each has distinctive characteristics of its own. The majority of these communities resided in the forest regions of the country, and they scattered over tiny tracts of land. These indigenous groups are able to cling to their primitive communities, and they mainly depend on natural assets in the area for their sustenance. They are the driving force behind the maintenance of the environment and coexist peacefully with indigenous plant and animal life as well as resources. Furthermore, visit Tripbeam to book reasonable flights from Thunder Bay Ontario to India.

Tribal Communities as Promoters of Community-Based Tourism

Tribal tribes in India are vital to the growth of community-based tourism. They provide visitors with an authentic experience of living in the woods. Visitors can also take part in tribal festivals and celebrations for a unique travel experience that cannot be compared to visiting South India’s beaches or the Himalayan peaks.
These tribal people are distinct from the majority population of India due to their distinctive sociocultural norms and rituals, as well as their varied religious practices. For instance, some cultures bury their dead rather than cremate them. Likewise, they celebrate a variety of extraordinary and distinctive festivals and ceremonies.

Examples of Tribal Community-Based Tourism in India

The Baiga tribes in Madhya Pradesh, for instance, have a traditional dance called “Karma,” which they conduct on full moon evenings. They kindly invite strangers to participate in the event. Additionally, visitors can enjoy the Mahua Drink, crafted by the Baigas using Mahua flowers cultivated nearby.

In contrast, the state of Odisha is home to numerous tribes, such as the Dhuraba, the Gadhaba, and the Dongaria Kondh. They welcome tourists to their villages so they can immerse themselves in local culture and feel the essence of daily life. The Gadhaba people highly recognize the Dhemsa as a traditional folk dance. In this instance, people create a chain, pass one another through the shoulders and waists, and dance in groups to the tunes of tamak, changu, and dhol, among other traditional folk instruments. These tribes have a high reputation for crafting exquisite jewelry, handicrafts, and decorations, alongside adorning their elaborate dwellings with wall murals.  Tribe members entirely handle the sale of these goods at a weekly market, which tourists can purchase. Additionally, you can also browse Tripbeam.com to book cheap flights from USA to Mumbai.

Geographical Spread of Tribal Communities

India’s tribal communities stretch beyond its central region into its southern Nilgiri region, home to five major hill tribes: the Todas, Kurumbas, Irulas, Badagas, and Kotas. The Nilgiris tribes are notable for their emphasis on gender equality and the unique contribution of women to the promotion of sustainable tourism in the area. Here, women collaborate to produce handicrafts employing regional artwork and then sell them in markets. In addition, visitors visit the tribes to see directly the magnificent vista of the verdant, rich tea gardens managed by the women of the tribe. Women of these tribes actively contribute to the development of community-based tourism as a means of fostering long-term economic growth in the region.

Similar to how tribes in southern India are well-known for their efforts in horticulture and handicrafts to develop community-based tourism, tribes in northeastern India are well-known for their creativity in creating forest ecosystems that are tourist-friendly without sacrificing the sustainability of the environment. For instance, the jingkieng jri, or living root bridge, is a naturally occurring bridge constructed by the Khasi tribe in Meghalaya from rubber tree roots. Travelers marvel at the strength and tenacity of living root bridges.

Similar to this, the sister state tribes in northeast India draw a sizable number of visitors for their traditional celebrations. The Nongkrem Festival, Orange Festival, Hornbill Festival, and Ambubachi Mela are a few of them.

To Sum Up

India’s tribal communities have rich social and cultural traditions that are ideal for meeting the demand for community-focused tourism. These towns have so much to offer in terms of experiences and things to do that visitors would never have to worry about missing anything. Additionally, be sure to look through the best online travel website, Tripbeam to book cheap flights from Kelowna to India.

Also Read: Top 5 Unusual Places in India that You Must Visit!