aV fo|ky; us euk;k viuk 17ok - Kewal Sach Times

There is horticulture plantation
in the 65 acre area.
He says when they urban
tourists come, they are
also able to see silk processing
units, milk dairies
and fruit plantations. Another
objective of encouraging
rural tourism was to
curb migration from rural
to urban areas. Since
2004 more than 200 centres
of rural and farm
tourism have been developed
in Maharashtra and
more than a lakh of tourists
have had the taste of
village life. In addition extra
income to the farmers,
the unemployed youth in
villages have also been
roped into the activities
connected with rural tourism.
Rajasthan is another
state where rural tourism
has developed fast over the
years. Rajasthan is not
only famous for historical
monuments and places of
worship but also for its
rich culture be its performing
arts or crafts or dance
and music. According to
Vijay Deep Singh of
Murarka Foundations they
have developed several
packages not only for the
Indian tourists but tourists
from place like America,
France, England and even
Switzerland. He says that
many tourists want to stay
with villagers in their
homes to get first hand
flavour of local life, cuisine
and culture. Under one
such packages the tourists
are charged 1200 rupees
per day for one day and
night of which 850 rupees
are paid to the farmers
family. For the tourists it
is not expensive and the
farmer too is able to earn
extra money. In Punjab it
is farm tourism that has
become the favourite. One
can walk along the golden
mustard fields, take a ride
on the tractor, take the
cattle for grazing or feed
them, get to drink fresh
buttermilk in the green
fields with Makki ki Roti
and Saag, enjoy the folk
dance Bhangra and get to
see the making of the local
craft phulkari and also
meet the village community
and the Panchayat.
The tourists also get to
participate or simply
watch local games like
wrestling, Gilidanda , kite
flying. Children too can
experience the joy of jumping
on the hay and taking
bath in the tube wells.
Many other states
too are now giving encouragement
to rural tourism.
12 th Plan Strategy to
Boost Rural Tourism
The working group on
tourism for the 12 th plan
observed that due to several
reasons, the rural tourism
projects have achieved
only limited success. It has
suggested a strategy that
can exploit the full potential
of rural tourism. The
strategy for developing
rural tourism is focussed
on phased development of
cluster of villages for
tourism instead of individual
villages.
It says that the concentration
of tourism facilities
or opportunities in
a cluster of villages in a
geographically compact
area, rather than in a number
of individual villages
spread across vast areas,
is likely to provide better
tourism attraction.
Another advantage
is that marketing of local
products can be facilitated
by holding Craft Bazars
or Haats, a concept which
has been in vogue
throughout the country for
a long time. Also it is more
practical and cost effective
for tour operators to
take a busload or a group
of large number of tourists
to a rural tourism
cluster, which offers more
variety and opportunities
of shopping, and exposure
to customs, lifestyles, local
arts and artisans/ artists,
including performing
arts.
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