Community-based tourism is a model in which local residents invite tourists to visit their communities to discover local habitats and wildlife in their region and share their traditional meals, ancestral rituals, cultural activities, language, and values.
Based on a fair-trade model, foreign visitors pay a fair price to the community residents in exchange for rich cultural activities, authentic local cuisine, and traditional accommodations.
Community-based tourism supplements the community’s conventional farming and animal husbandry income and a portion is set aside for projects that benefit the community as a whole.
Community-based facilities often strive to balance the authenticity of rural community life with sufficient standards for the comfort of Western visitors, providing simple but clean sleeping rooms, modern (though often shared) bathrooms, along with electrical and phone access.
We play a vital role in connecting well-intentioned and inquisitive travelers to local community co-operatives. This social and economic enablement strengthens communities through increased awareness of the commercial and social value placed on their cultural heritage by tourists, thus fostering pride in their cultural identity and a desire to preserve their cultural heritage and natural resources.
We believe that community-based tourism enables travelers to experience a genuine and rich cultural exchange and communities enjoy social and economic empowerment.
