Responsible tourism in India
People & culture
Poverty: cliché or change?
The one danger of us highlighting poverty as an issue in India is that it adds to the tired, clichéd conclusion reached by many tourists that India is just full of beggars and thieves. Tricksters and touts. It isn’t. Nor is everyone poor. In 2013, the Indian government stated 21.9% of its population is below its official poverty limit which, with a population of 1.27 billion, is a lot of people. Too many people. However, since the 1950s, the Indian government has, with the help of food subsidies, improved agriculture and education, reduced absolute poverty levels by half, and greatly reduced illiteracy and malnutrition. Gujarat and Delhi are faring well, but Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh less well, with Odisha (aka Orissa) and rural Bihar among the world’s most poor. However, poverty is not going to feature centre stage for tourists anymore, even though it should do for politicians and economists. What is important to understand in India is that, very often, the negative impacts of tourism have been exacerbated because of a growing income divide. Tigers are still being poached because there is more money to be made by selling their body parts than selling safaris. Houseboats are still polluting the backwaters of Kerala because they are one of the biggest sources of income in the region. Elephant rides can feed a family for a week, even though the treatment of the animals is often unethical. Haggling and hassling is a quick fix compared with raising funds to create a legal tourism business and, the worst side of humanity, the sexual exploitation and abuse of children, a very dark side of tourism, grows not just because of the shocking demand but because young people are talked into being trafficked with a promise of a more affluent lifestyle. And businesses turn a blind eye as it pays well.What you can do
As well as using responsible tourism companies, gaining their advice about donating to charities on the ground and appropriately when you are there, spread the word using social media. If you find a brilliant toddy bar, tell everyone and hashtag #India. If you see illegal acts, tell everyone and hashtag #India. If you are moved to tears by beauty, tell everyone and hashtag #India. And if you had fun and learned something new on a slum tour, tell everyone and hashtag #India. That’s the quickest way to erase the tired old clichés, and put positive word around. Because if ever there was a place to create change through crowd sourcing, India has to be it.
“We support slum tours to see what these families do, how they survive, what their stories are. We ensure they are not voyeuristic and simply for taking photographs, but they are tours that actually tell an honest story of what the slums are, and why people here are poor. Which is mainly because the government won’t improve their conditions as they want them to move away so that they can develop this prime real estate. But actually, in many ways, these are thriving communities, the children are educated and speak English, they have skills which are being passed down educated, but their geographical reality hasn’t changed. So you can’t just generalise and say, ‘everyone is poor here’. You have to dig deep, open your mind, and you will see the different layers”.
Our India Holidays
Golden Triangle with Ranthambore tour, India
Brilliant experiences including Tigers and Temples
Kerala tailor made holiday, 11 days
Revitalize in Kerala - A most wonderful and balanced trip
Tiger tour in India, land of the Tiger tour
Wildlife tour through India
Golden Triangle small group holiday, India
India's 3 most popular destinations, Delhi, Agra & Jaipur
Southern India small group holiday
Discover the two southern most states of India
Tiger watching holiday in India
A chance to see the majestic tiger in the wild
Rajasthan 15 day tour
A well crafted northern Indian and Rajasthani experience
Wildlife holiday in Central India
Best of Indian wildlife with tiger, leopard and sloth bear.
Walking and cycling holiday in Kerala, India
Walking and cycling through rain forests and grasslands.
India small group holiday, a food adventure
2 week discovery of the sights, sounds & flavours of India.
Kerala walking holiday in India
Walk through beautiful hills and tea plantations
Kerala homestay tour, India
Stay in homestays in various destinations in Kerala
South India tour, Trivandrum to Goa
Head to the beaches and backwaters of southern India.
Rajasthan cycling holiday with Taj & tigers
Enjoy cycling tour in Royal Rajasthan with Taj and Tiger.
North India cultural tour
An adventure to one of the planet's exotic destinations
Kerala and tropical India cycling holidays
Beautiful landscapes, fascinating towns and long white beaches
India tiger safaris
Stunning Tiger and wildlife safari in India.
Central India holiday, journey through Chhattisgarh
Chhattisgarh’s best of wildlife and tribal culture.
India wildlife safari tour of Kaziranga
Kaziranga- home of the one horned rhino
Binsar to Jageshwar walking holiday, India
Thrilling, tailor-made walking trips in the Indian Himalayas
Ladakh and Changtang cultural tour, India
Cultural immersive tour ideal for couples and small groups
India big cats safari, lions and tigers
Search for three big cats in Gujurat and Ranthambore
India highlight tour, North and South
Explore India's cultural diversity
Karnataka holidays, tailormade, India
Experience the highlights of Karnataka at a relaxed pace
Rajasthan tours, India
Discover the evocative northern province of Rajasthan
Golden Triangle & tigers holiday in India
Rajathan's palaces, the Taj Mahal & tigers
Luxury India Tours, Taj, forts and palaces
Explore palaces,magnificent forts,sleep in the lap of luxury
Tadoba National park tiger safari, India
Tadoba the best tiger reserve of India
Gujarat holiday and the Rann of Kutch, India
A fascinating mix of local village culture and wild landscapes
India tour, Taj, tigers and Ganges holiday
Experience the essence of northern India
Wildlife & environment
Tiger tourism
Seeing tigers in the wild is rare. But tigers are rare, with just over 3,000 in the wild, worldwide. India is home to half of these and, with poaching still a serious threat, it is vital to support conservation efforts through tourism. In the past it was even more difficult to spot the elusive tiger, but they have now become more used to jeeps and people, and are braving the open spaces, sometimes even with their cubs. The most usual way to see tigers is from a vehicle, either a jeep or a minibus although some parks are installing tree viewing platforms.The best places for viewing are Bandhavgarh National Park, Corbett Tiger Reserve, Bandipur National Park, Kanha National Park, Periyar National Park and Pench Tiger Reserve. One other issue related to tiger watching is the use of elephants in national parks where tigers have their habitats. Although we do not endorse elephant trekking at Responsible Travel, as you will see from our ‘Elephants in tourism’ guide, we do recognise that, at Periyar, for example, the survival of the remaining tigers is simply too precarious to risk withdrawing the funding gained through elephant rides from the park; to do so would risk an instant increase in poaching and the demise of the species. Allowing elephant back safaris is far from an ideal situation, but we believe it is the “least bad” solution to a complex problem. Read more about the use of elephants in conservation here.
We highly recommend using the services of expert tour operators and guides to arrange a tiger safari as they know all the issues in their specific area. These should also be organisations that wholly engage with local communities, however, not just with national park authorities as the development of tiger tourism as an income source for local communities is vital.
While you are on a tiger safari, a few days at least is recommended, and the usual wildlife watching guidelines apply. Your guide should not take you too close and never tip guides more money to take you closer towards a tiger. Of course, wild animals should not be fed, touched or teased in any way. Read more about responsible tiger safaris in our guide.
Make sure you use a tiger safari company with a strong knowledge not only of responsible tourism but also of conservation issues within the area of India that you are hoping to visit. A very useful website is the Travel Operators for Tigers (TOFTigers), which not only leads strong campaigns for responsible tiger tourism in India, but has also developed rating system of rating that measures the ‘footprint’ of individual lodges and hotels in India’s wilderness regions, called the PUG Rating. You can also donate to reputable tiger conservation charities such as WWF, Born Free and many others listed on TOFTigers website.
“I think that name ‘tiger watching’ should be banned. Don’t go with tigers as your sole focus, there is so much to see in India’s national parks and spending the whole of your safari charging around the park on a hunt for a tiger is such a wasted opportunity. Ask your guide and driver to stop for ten minutes by a lake or stream, listen to the sounds of the jungle, watch the birds, enjoy the beauty of the light coming through the forest. SO much more fun than just thumping along in a jeep.”
Responsible tourism tips
"We can all play a role in keeping children safe, whether at home or abroad. If you see a child at risk of sexual exploitation while travelling, please take action and either report your concern directly to authorities or visit The Code's website to find the best reporting line."
Sophie Hartman, owner of our partners Holidays in Rural India, says:
“I’ve really struggled with people whom I’ve specially asked to dress modestly (we operate in a very under-visited part of India where people aren’t used to seeing white people, let alone bare white legs and arms) who’ve then emerged in shorts and a strappy top and asked the guest house owner if they’re ok as they are – hotel owners are far too polite to say anything and although everyone is lovely in the part of India in which we work (no rudeness or groping) the local people are embarrassed and that infuriates me.”
Rajat Kumar, Managing Director of our supplier ExplorIndya
"The whole idea of gifting pens to kids bothers me. I don’t diss the reasons behind it. I diss the act itself. When this started, the reasons behind it were very noble as the pen was seen as a direct tool to empower the child to study and write. But today it has become a game that locals play with tourists, and tourists encourage with the act itself. It is ironic because it actually drives children to skip school and hang out in areas frequented by western tourists because they know they will get handfuls of pens. They just keep them in boxes, where they collect hundreds of pens, and it is a satire.“