Community Tourism For Nalanda

Concept paper on community based tourism for Nalanda

Prepared by Nava Nalanda Mahvihar

Nalanda

Concept paper on community tourism at Nalanda

Community & tourism around Nalanda Families in the historic core area either poor, lack entrepreneurial capacity or lack of clear plans to capitalize on tourist places. Involvement of local community is also limited because of noninvolvement of local community in planning of tourist events. Indifferent attitude stems from lack of public education and general perception that tourism belongs to government organisation, they lack education on what significant roles they do play, and they can play in tourism trade. There is a need to work on following components to promote sustainable tourism in nalanda and around 1- Community participation programme 2- Awareness programme on tourism benefits and negative impacts, environmental and cultural conservation 3- Identification of suitable tourism products and its development 4- Convergences with government and other schemes for small scale tourism related infrastructure 5- Capacity building for community based micro-enterprises 6- Promotion of community based tourism network and stakeholder associations 7- Community tourism product development and testing 8- Marketing the tourism product

Nava Nalanda Mahavihar

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Concept paper on community tourism at Nalanda

Sanskritik Gram (Cultural village) and Sustainable tourism This part of the Buddhist circuit has diverse range of tourist visiting the place round the year. Peak season (Oct – Feb.) has visitors from around the world, these visitors, most of them come to see sites and places related to Buddha. Average stay of this group of tourist visiting nalanda is one day. Every detail of their visit is managed by tour operators at New Delhi and Sarnath. 2nd group of tourist visiting Nalanda consist of domestic tourists who come here as a part of religious pilgrimage. This consists of Jains, Sikhs, Muslims, Buddhist and Hindus. Most of this tourists visit their respective religious sites and small part of these visits other places of tourism interest. These tourists have their own networks and bodies, which manages their visit. Another part of domestic tourist who actually influences the local market is the tourists from neighboring states especially west Bengal. Volume of this tourist is at peak during school holidays, especially during the winters. This group of tourist finds this location well connected by road and railway, has places of interest for children and is relatively cheap. Average stay of this tourist is 2 to 3 days. 3rd category of tourist is local (nalanda and adjoining districts) tourist consists of religious tourist and recreational tourist. While religious tourist comes during festivals, recreational tourist comes on holidays. Most of the time recreational tourist from adjoining districts comes here for picnics and outings. Few of such tourist pick one good spot and spend whole day their and some of them explore all tourist spots. Most of the third category of the tourist avoids night halts. Another important category of tourists, whose volume is high, consists of official guests (government & Non government). This tourist is often accompanied by local government and non government officials. A comprehensive tourism development plan for Nalanda should build on available resources in terms of human capital, available skills (art, craft & culture) & cultural heritage. This could be achieved by developing and designing suitable tourism product for each category of tourists. Enrichment and diversification of the available tourist products is one of the best ways to enhance the economic benefits, without necessarily increasing the number of tourist arrivals. And another important aspect is, developing products that extends the average stay of tourists and gives them more opportunities to increase their spending. This is particularly relevant because tourist visiting Nalanda (Buddhist circuit) want to know more about the place and have an in-depth experience of culture tradition and spirituality associated with the place. Nava Nalanda Mahavihar is developing cultural village at Xuan Zang memorial museum. We have developed a roadmap to promote art and craft based tourism involving local community. We have briefly explained whole concept in the next part of the concept note.

Nava Nalanda Mahavihar

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Concept paper on community tourism at Nalanda

Sanskritik gram (Cultural village) Sanskritik gram (under construction) shall be a sprawling infrastructure spread in 50 acres of land around Xuan Zang memorial museum. Cultural village is meticulously designed to cradle and promote art, craft and culture of Nalanda. First phase of construction which consists of workshop and artisans stay, open air theatre and Haat shall finish by July 07. Second part of construction that shall start in 2007; consist of a Guest house, a meditation hall, exhibition hall and an auditorium. Plan layout of the cultural village is attached with the concept note. Upcoming Cultural village at the heart of Nalanda shall be a living museum that will encourage assist people to conceive, establish, and grow commercially viable and sustainable tourism venture that showcase culture, art, craft, and spiritual heritage of Nalanda. The cultural village shall have workshop and artisans stay, where Local artisans, awardee / reputed artisans from other parts of country and world, shall come together for mutual exchange of skills and culture. Other than workshop and haat the cultural village shall have an auditorium, open air theatre, exhibition hall, meditation centre and a guest house. Cultural village shall help artisans in producing and selling the traditional craft products. Cultural village will host cultural events during festivals and tourism season which shall help in showcasing and marketing the art craft and culture of Nalanda. Local groups shall be trained for its operation and management. Such team shall over a period of time, with suitable training groomed for management and operation of a tourist information centre. This centre shall not only host art, craft and culture based events but also develop and promote new tourism products based on heritage interpretation. Broadly, this shall serve as tourist information centre, which shall facilitate special interest tourism to flourish.

Nava Nalanda Mahavihar

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Concept paper on community tourism at Nalanda

Possible tourism products A Few of the tourism products for different sector that can be worked upon are discussed below. Here we have focusing on enriching the experience qualitatively there by targeting the length of stay and not focusing the number of tourist. Since all variety of tourist visit the area, there is need to develop products that matches their interest and are affordable. This is also necessary for sustainable development of tourism and perennial source of income for the community. Hospitality – Hospitality sector provides direct and indirect livelihood opportunities for local residents. Concept of home stay, cultural stay and other derivatives of this sector, which are successful at many other destinations in India and abroad are suitable for Nalanda. This presents an opportunity for tourists to both receiving lodging and learns about the local history. High end products for home stay has following challenges associated 1- Availability of suitable houses 2- Availability of rooms and space in house 3- Structural soundness, adequate amenities, dependable facilities etc Promoting for bed and breakfast type lodges in the vicinity of heritage sites can eventually lead to initiatives for Home stay and cultural stay. For promotion of home stays, there is a need to, 1. Survey to identify households interested for home stays 2. Finding about interest and facilities for such an endeavor, educating and orienting them about the heritage tourism and expectations of the visitors 3. Assisting families and house owners in fixing up the houses If historic houses are not available, then buildings and houses adjacent to heritage site could be developed into bed-and- breakfast type lodges. Women of interested families could be sensitiised and trained over a period of time for dos and don’ts of the sector. Other option could be identification of such units and training women groups for its management and operation. Local cuisine Another important segment of hospitality sector where direct participation of women can be envisaged is cuisine. Local cuisine may provide the opportunity to offer special cooking programmes for tourists. Otherwise, trained women can get employment in the existing hotel and restaurant or they can be motivated to start micro-enterprises in and around sites. Another option is that tourist is provided local cuisine at suitable houses in target villages. This shall provide local ambience hence an opportunity for cultural exchange. Any such training shall involve following componentsFood preparation and cookery skills, food safety methods, health and safety legislation, customer service, personal presentation, and team work skills

Nava Nalanda Mahavihar

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Concept paper on community tourism at Nalanda

Interpretation and Heritage trails Nalanda is potential destination for special interest tourism. Special interest tourism requires careful organisation, accurate and detailed information, and competent guides. It is through interpretation that visitor understands culture and history of the place, Nalanda’s cultural heritage and its interpretation has differing levels of significance; some with universal values, other of national, regional or local level. This whole thing will need guides of various levels and category Development of a guide or interpretative plan involving women shall involve following steps, 123456-

Identification of suitable / interested women Orientation programme for the participants Development of curriculum and suitable training module and completion of training Organising women with different level of skills and learning in a ladder of groups Formation of a cooperative body Linking the body to other stakeholders like tourist operators, hotels and institutions

Opportunities Development of “footsteps of Buddha” trail, Interpretation programmes, Visit to villages to observe the tradition life and crafts, Theme walks, meditation, story telling etc. Art, craft and culture Culture is a part of tourism system, both as an attraction and as an element in the environment. Culture can be marketed to the tourist through tangible and / or intangible elements, e.g. ancient architectural buildings, craft items, art, tradition, lifestyles, behavior, etc. Existing tangible craft like weaving, pottery, palm leaf work, traditional embroidery work, stonework, etc can be developed and marketed through women clusters. Since this area attracts lots of religious tourist specially, Buddhist and jains, producing souvenir items on religious themes and motifs could generate livelihood opportunities for artisans. Women artisans (women from artisan families) could be trained for development of good quality art and crafts that is unique to area. Promotion, distribution, and sale of local craft shall have an interpretative message to the visitors and shall provide reasonable social and economic return to the community. In souvenir purchase decisions, one of the many tourists’ common goals is to create linkage with the culture, sample a different way of life. Upcoming Cultural village shall be one platform where artisans shall produce and sell their products. Displays at hotels, linkages with existing souvenir shops are other viable options. Few groups could be motivated to open their own souvenir shops at tourist destinations.

Nava Nalanda Mahavihar

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Concept paper on community tourism at Nalanda

Inbound tour operators

Management of tourism at Nalanda is being done by tour operators at Delhi and Sarnath. This is one potential area where sustainable livelihoods could be generated for local community.

Activities of inbound tour operator, 1-Development of new itineraries, Regional circuits 2-Development of thematic packages of attractions 3-Developing partnerships and network of stakeholders who contribute services to tourism development 4- Taking care / arranging for stay and local travel of the tourists

Nava Nalanda Mahavihar

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Concept paper on community tourism at Nalanda

Tourist analysis (of tourist visiting Nalanda (and Rajgir)) Market segment

Tour management

Characteristics

Present interest

Potential products

Foreign nationals (Buddhist and interest in Buddhism)) from south east Asia, Japan etc

Packaged tours by the tour operators based at New Delhi, Sarnath etc

Overnight stay High overall Spending ( local spending is less) Seasonal tourist high during winters Age group- generally old people

Buddhist site

1-Souvenir items based on local art and craft 2- Interpretation programmes, development of heritage trails 3- Cultural experience

Foreign nationals interested in Cultural, historical & educational experience

Free and independent travelers

Stay varies from 1 day to week High overall spending and spending at Nalanda generally high then 1st one More visitors during Winters All age group

Ruins of Nalanda, Places around Rajgir

Domestic Religious tourists

Jains and Sikhs religious visitors have their own established networks.

Respective religious sites

Domestic Tourist for Holidays ( visitors from neighboring states)

Generally they directly contact Hotel owners at Rajgir

1 to 2 day Medium income group Lower local spending High during winters Generally old people and Families 2 to 4 days Medium income group Highest spenders among all tourists coming to Nalanda Winters and school holidays

1-interpretation programmes linking popular sites and sites mentioned in ancient texts (not so popular) 2- Souvenir items based on local art and craft 3- Local cuisine 4- Cultural experiences 5- Home stays 1- Suitable souvenir items 2- Suitable interpretation programme

All tourist spots in around Nalanda

1- Suitable interpretation products 2- Souvenir items 3- Local cuisine 4- Cultural experiences 5- Home stays

1 day (10 am to 6 Pm) Medium income group Medium spending High during winters and holidays 1 day

Either all places of tourist interest or One place for picnic

1- Suitable interpretation products 2-Souvenir items 3- Eateries 4- Cultural experiences Interpretation programmes

1 day

Historical sites

Family Local recreational tourist

Educational / Recreational trips of schools Government & Non Government people on official trips

On own

Historical sites

Local authority

Nava Nalanda Mahavihar

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1- Suitable interpretation products 2- Souvenir items