Community & Tourism - a new model
Village Ways works in partnership with rural communities to establish, develop and manage a very special kind of tourism.
Sustainability is the key, with ownership in the hands of local communities and where both the tourists and the villagers are the beneficiaries.
read more...
Sustainability is the key, with ownership in the hands of local communities and where both the tourists and the villagers are the beneficiaries.
read more...
Sustaining village communities
Rural communities in remote places often struggle to survive – and as they lose economic viability and their young people head for the cities, so too they lose traditional knowledge and skills.
Village Ways, right from its start in the foothills of the Himalayas, determined that sustainability is key to the survival of rural communities, that economic opportunity is best achieved by encouraging and building on the communities’ own strengths, skills and knowledge to develop enterprise.
As active partners with Village Ways in the business of tourism, the communities share in the work, the pleasure and the profit that a successful tourism venture creates. They make full use of their deep knowledge of environment and traditions as they learn new skills, make new contacts, to further their growth as communities and individuals.
Village Ways, right from its start in the foothills of the Himalayas, determined that sustainability is key to the survival of rural communities, that economic opportunity is best achieved by encouraging and building on the communities’ own strengths, skills and knowledge to develop enterprise.
As active partners with Village Ways in the business of tourism, the communities share in the work, the pleasure and the profit that a successful tourism venture creates. They make full use of their deep knowledge of environment and traditions as they learn new skills, make new contacts, to further their growth as communities and individuals.
Community ownership
Participating communities work with the support of the Village Ways network in attracting visitors to come and share in the beauty of their surroundings and the fascination of their traditional lifestyles. Working through local committees and taking a full share of the responsibilities that tourism involves, the communities develop economic and social strengths – while their guests, warmly welcomed, find themselves on a voyage of discovery of wonderful remote places and deeply rooted rural lives.
Villageways and the environment
Village Ways works to raise environmental awareness among its participating communities, to nurture the traditions and local knowledge that have long allowed them to live in balance with their surroundings, and to develop understanding of the changes (positive and negative) that the modern world can bring.
Guides are trained to value and share their knowledge of local flora and fauna; local craftsmen use traditional skills and materials to build or restore guesthouses and at the same time incorporate energy-saving technology such as solar panels for lighting and heating water.
Guides are trained to value and share their knowledge of local flora and fauna; local craftsmen use traditional skills and materials to build or restore guesthouses and at the same time incorporate energy-saving technology such as solar panels for lighting and heating water.
Communities and their guests
A Village Ways holiday takes you, the guest, right to the heart of rural communities, where you’ll have time to appreciate daily village life at first hand and, if you wish, to join in local activities. Your hosts enjoy finding out about you and your part of the world too - there’s so much to discover on both sides.
