Nesting in nature

Tourism can be an exhilarating experience when the emphasis is on roads less travelled, vistas off the beaten track and rooms with more than a view. The community-based tourism project being implemented in Uttarakhand by the Himmotthan Society, an associate entity of the Tata Trusts, ticks all of these boxes and then some.

Launched in November 2021, and with financial backing from MakeMyTrip Foundation and the Tata Trusts to bank on, the project is designed to create an archetype of sustainable tourism. Rural environs are the setting and nature in all its beauty the big draw in a project geared to benefit local communities.

Spread over village clusters in Jadipani (Tehri Garhwal district) and in Makkumath and Ransi (Rudraprayag district), the initiative has fostered the development of 32 homestays — with a cumulative 50 rooms on offer — that are managed mainly by women, who have been provided training and handholding support.

This is a distinctive kind of effort, much different from the traditional tourism fare that envelops — and often overwhelms — Uttarakhand. And it is showing all signs of fulfilling its potential in spades.