169 Rural Tourism sites Sanctioned

Ministry of Tourism has so far sanctioned 169 rural tourism sites in 28 states/Union Territories. The scheme of Rural tourism was started by the Ministry in 2002-03 with the objective of showcasing rural life, art, culture and heritage at rural locations and in villages, which have core competence in art and craft, handloom, and textiles as also an asset base in the natural environment. The intention is to benefit the local community economically and socially as well as enable interaction between tourists and local population for a mutually enriching experience. The promotion of village tourism is also aimed at generating revenue for the rural communities through tourist visitations.

While in the initial two years of the scheme, only physical infrastructure (Hardware or HW) development activities were taken up under the scheme, from the year 2004-05 capacity building (software or SW) activities too were taken up. The HW components of the rural tourism projects (RTPs) have been provided funds from the plan scheme ‘Product/Infrastructure development for destinations and circuits’ (PIDDC). The SW components of 36 RTPs sanctioned during 2004-05 and 2005-06 have been funded from GOI-UNDP Endogenous Projects scheme. All SW components sanctioned from 2006-07 have been funded from the plan scheme ‘Capacity Building for Service Providers’ (CBSP). The Village Level Council (VLC) is the interactive forum for local community participation in work plan implementation of the projects, further supported by other community level institutions.