A farm tourism scheme in India has won a cultural preservation award.
A holiday to India offers people a multitude of unique opportunities in a growing number of tourism sectors.
People booking flights to Mumbai will have a great chance to sample one of these, as a local scheme has just been awarded the 2012 Asia Responsible Tourism Award in the Best in Community Engagement & Development and Cultural Preservation category.
Agri Tourism India was developed in 2005 and promotes agricultural tourism by encouraging and helping Maharashtrian farmers to convert their land into home stays, reports Travel Biz Monitor.
This not only provides an authentic rural Indian experience for tourists, but also helps to preserve the area’s cultural heritage.
The agricultural centre is the brain child of second generation farmer and entrepreneur Pandurang Taware and as well as training more than 1,500 farmers in the last seven years, it also hosts many cultural evenings and events for guests, including traditional bullock cart rides.
Written by Nicholas Scott