Social tourism, what is it?

Let's make a little break in our cities' presentation. I would like to explain more my vision of tourism, and precisely of social tourism.

I live in Jaipur, and my family runs a guesthouse. I have been meeting for years people from all around the world, spending time to introduce them India, to travel with them and discover special places. At the same time, I have seen thousands of people going out of a bus to visit only the historical centre, and then leaving for another city. From my point of view, they didn't see India.

I built during several years my firm project, working on the possible social aspects that I could put inside. My single question was: how to offer the best tour in contact with the population and to have at the same time the most positive impact for the people we meet?

My answer is finally simple: I spent time visiting places without any tourism activity, but presenting high potential, in terms of crafts, culture, history or everyday life to share. I identified the villages in which I would like to work, and I started to develop with the local families guesthouses, craft classes, ... At the same time, I explained them what the basic requirements for tourists are.

This work is still going on: I want to offer that kind of tourism all over India, to support families in need and to give tourists unforgettable experiences, based on human link and cross-cultural exchange.

The next step is even bigger: once villagers will get used to see tourists and to exchange with them, we will start to build common projects, to develop more the livelihood of families. This, I hope, will start in few months...

Let's have a look now at some villages in the Shekawati region, where tourists never went but should have gone!