Fair trade tours to India
| country: | India |
| location: | Kerala, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu |
| departures: | 2009: 21 Feb, 4 Oct |
| price: | From £1250 for 2008 & £1345 for 2009 (15 days) (16 days) excluding flights, price depends on holiday option chosen. We can help arrange flights from the UK |
the amazing things you'll be doing
India is a country of great diversity, a strong cultural identity, a fascinating history and of vast geographical scale.
Possibly no other country has its religions so intertwined with every aspect of life. Home to a large number of the world’s poor, it has an amazing array of traditional crafts skills and consequently is a major source of crafts products.
These long established tours are designed to provide you with an insight into the diversity of this fascinating country while visiting several suppliers and seeing the role and impact of fair trade first hand across foods and fair trade crafts producers.
India Highlights Tour
From £1250 (15 days) excluding flights - 2008: 5 Oct
Led by our experienced Indian guide, Ranjith Henry, this tour takes you to the capital Delhi and then onto Agra, where we will visit Tara Projects and their crafts workshops. The magical Taj Mahal in Agra and the spectacular Red Fort in Delhi are some of the great sights we visit in this area.
Highlights of the tour include:
An overnight train journey, a true Indian experience, takes us to Chennai (formerly Madras) the capital of Tamil Nadu and India’s fourth largest city. We visit a street kids project, an organisation involved in environmental issues and Indian medical systems, take lunch in a typical Indian home and enjoy a Carnatic music recital.
Our journey concludes with a visit to Kolkatta (formerly Calcutta) where we visit SKVIS, producers of batik silks products, stay with them overnight and see the projects they are involved in. We also visit Sasha another crafts marketing organisations. The ethereal expanse of the Hooghly river set against a backdrop of colonial architecture and the strong Bengali culture (it claims to be India’s cultural capital), make Kolkatta a great place to explore - it is rightly described by some as a city with a soul.
Western India Tour
From £1275 (16 days) excluding flights - 2007: 09 Feb
Famous for its textiles, crafts, and its cultural and social diversity, we have sourced crafts and textile products from producers in Western India for over 15 years and in the last 5 years has been sourcing agricultural products from the region. The region contains the commercial centre of India, Mumbai and one of the largest tourism centres in India, Rajasthan. Western India is an excellent location to explore the diversity that is India.
Highlights of the tour include:
Possibly no other country has its religions so intertwined with every aspect of life. Home to a large number of the world’s poor, it has an amazing array of traditional crafts skills and consequently is a major source of crafts products.
These long established tours are designed to provide you with an insight into the diversity of this fascinating country while visiting several suppliers and seeing the role and impact of fair trade first hand across foods and fair trade crafts producers.
India Highlights Tour
From £1250 (15 days) excluding flights - 2008: 5 Oct
Led by our experienced Indian guide, Ranjith Henry, this tour takes you to the capital Delhi and then onto Agra, where we will visit Tara Projects and their crafts workshops. The magical Taj Mahal in Agra and the spectacular Red Fort in Delhi are some of the great sights we visit in this area.
Highlights of the tour include:
- Time with Traidcraft producers and other projects of broad development interest
- Tours to sites of historic interest and temples to learn more of the culture
- A visit to the magical Taj Mahal, a true wonder of the world
- The chance to visit people in their homes
- Opportunities to discuss and learn about a wide variety of issues
- The chance to be part of a small group of like-minded individuals
An overnight train journey, a true Indian experience, takes us to Chennai (formerly Madras) the capital of Tamil Nadu and India’s fourth largest city. We visit a street kids project, an organisation involved in environmental issues and Indian medical systems, take lunch in a typical Indian home and enjoy a Carnatic music recital.
Our journey concludes with a visit to Kolkatta (formerly Calcutta) where we visit SKVIS, producers of batik silks products, stay with them overnight and see the projects they are involved in. We also visit Sasha another crafts marketing organisations. The ethereal expanse of the Hooghly river set against a backdrop of colonial architecture and the strong Bengali culture (it claims to be India’s cultural capital), make Kolkatta a great place to explore - it is rightly described by some as a city with a soul.
Western India Tour
From £1275 (16 days) excluding flights - 2007: 09 Feb
Famous for its textiles, crafts, and its cultural and social diversity, we have sourced crafts and textile products from producers in Western India for over 15 years and in the last 5 years has been sourcing agricultural products from the region. The region contains the commercial centre of India, Mumbai and one of the largest tourism centres in India, Rajasthan. Western India is an excellent location to explore the diversity that is India.
Highlights of the tour include:
- Time with producers and other projects of broad development interest
- Tours to sites of historic interest, including the Taj Mahal, and temples to learn more of the culture
- A visit to the spectacular bird sanctuary at Keoladeo Ghana National Park
- The chance to visit people in their homes
- Opportunities to discuss and learn about a wide variety of issues
- The chance to be part of a small group of like-minded individuals
this tourism business was Highly Commended
In our 2005 First Choice Responsible Tourism Awards, the largest awards of their kind in the world, and organised by responsibletravel.com in association with The Times, World Travel Market and Geographical Magazine. The idea behind the Awards is that all types of tourism – from niche to mainstream – can and should be operated in a way that respects and benefits destinations and local people. how this holiday makes a difference
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If you’re interested in fair-trade and are looking for an opportunity to meet the people behind the products then this is the holiday for you. Global adventures start with a local perspective – that's our philosophy. Whether abroad, or just as importantly at home, the start point is the same; how to get the most enjoyable holiday for our customers while benefiting the local people, economy and respecting the environment.
This is the UK's leading fair trade organisation which is engaged in innovative and effective trade and has been fighting poverty through trade since 1979. We work at the national and international level advocating changes in trade rules to make them work in the interests of the poor and mobilise public opinion to support fairer trade practices. Our sales are now worth more than £12 million a year, providing vital income for producers in over 30 countries. Working with a local partner on fair trade terms, these long established itineraries offer an opportunity to see first hand how fair trade works, how effective sustainable trading and development projects can improve the lives of the local people while providing a general insight into different areas of India, its culture and its people. Being able to participate and connect with the local culture provides a richer holiday experience. Accompanied by a local knowledgeable guide who truly knows the area, our guests are able to get more of a feel for the place and the environment. In selecting accommodation in small hotels, private homes and guest houses we make sure that the local communities benefit. By collaborating with locally based people when visiting different areas we are able to contribute to the regional economy. We provide guests with Travellers’ Codes that encourage the reduction of water usage, systems for collecting, recycling or safe disposal of litter and relevant suggestions to minimise damage to the environment, wildlife and marine ecosystems. All our holidays have a maximum group size of 12 to 14 people minimizing both the social and environmental impact. |
Tourism can be good and bad for destinations & local people. We carefully screen every holiday against our criteria for responsible travel. 'Look behind the brochure' to find how each holiday makes a difference (see left). We don't claim to be perfect - there is no global accreditation - but we've led the way since 2001 and screened 1000's of holidays. We invite every traveller to write a review about their experiences and responsible tourism. This valuable feedback is sent to the people who run the holidays. We keep a very close eye on it and take off holidays that don't live up to our standards. |