How Madhya Pradesh's Responsible Tourism Is Empowering Rural Communities And Offering A Unique Experience

When it comes to tourist attractions, not many states in India offer the diversity like Madhya Pradesh.

From wildlife to historic monuments, religious places, and unique arts, Madhya Pradesh has something for everyone.

AFP

That is why over 3.4 crore tourists including domestic and foreign visited Madhya Pradesh in 2022, which was an increase of 33 per cent from the previous year.

Madhya Pradesh Responsible Tourism Mission

Recently Madhya Pradesh Tourism embarked on a mission to make tourism sustainable and empower rural communities, at the same time giving a unique village life experience to tourists.

MP Tourism

Under its Responsible Tourism Mission, Madhya Pradesh Tourism will be setting up 100 tourism villages across six cultural zones -- Baghelkhand, Bundelkhand, Chambal, Malwa, Nimad, and Mahakausha where facilities like homestays, village stays and farm stays will be set up for tourists.

In addition to this, tourists will get to experience things like local food, village walk, tribal art display, fishing, local music and dance evenings, farming, pottery and more.

MP Tourism

Making tourism sustainable, beneficial to local communities

MP is only the second state in India after Kerala to emphasise on responsible tourism.

"Responsible tourism is all about 'making better places for people to live and better places for people to visit'. By working with the community in and around the tourist cities, Madhya Pradesh ensures the benefits of locals while making the tourists aware of their heritage, culture, and customs," MP Tourism's website states.

Focus on women safety, accessibly

The RTM also focuses on improving tourism infrastructure in Madhya Pradesh, especially when it comes to safety and accessibility.

The project has been initiated to awaken the community about women's safety. It is the first tourist project sanctioned by the Ministry of Women and child development, under the Nirbhaya Scheme.

MP Tourism

Under Project Humsafar, MP Tourism is also making its key tourist destination easily accessible for differently-abled visitors. MP Tourism has also conducted training for capacity building and sensitization programs for the manpower working at tourism destinations.

Keeping tourist destinations clean

Another key focus area of the RTM is to make tourist destinations clean and sustainable. It is not uncommon to see tourist destinations turn into a mountain of garbage, due to an increase in tourism footfall.

To make sure that this doesn't happen, Madhya Pradesh Tourism has undertaken the project "Clean Destination" to keep the environment of destinations suitable with the support of the local community and visitors.

The pilot project was started at Panna National Park where 30 villages were covered around Madla gate of Panna National Park.

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