It has been estimated that around 138 people migrate from the villages everyday to bigger towns within the state or in neighboring areas. Reasons: Lack of viable job opportunities, small land holdings, low crop yield, lack of access to healthcare facilities etc. Â Thus, Uttarakhand now has a total of 1768 villages that have been completely abandoned.
Village Hotel Concept for Uttrakhand
Ghost Villages
A Viable Tourism Opportunit
The Problem
It has been estimated that around 138 people migrate from the villages everyday to bigger towns within the state or in neighboring areas. Reasons: Lack of viable job opportunities, small land holdings, low crop yield, lack of access to healthcare facilities etc. Thus, Uttarakhand now has a total of 1768 villages that have been completely abandoned.
At Culture Aangan, we are in a business of creating sustainable & experiential tourism destinations which in turn creates livelihood by educating & empowering the local village women & youth thus, conserving the local traditional art and culture in its most natural form
Why does Culture Aangan exist? ( Brand Purpose)
Experiencing life closer to nature & culture in its purest form
How does Culture Aangan work? ( The Process)
mpowering the local village/ farming communities to create cultural experiences
What product and services does Culture Aangan create? ( The Result)
Unique experiential Village Stay holidays
The Culture Aangan Gramotel
The Gramotel is a new and innovative concept in rural tourism that has been developed by Culture Aangan. The concept is to develop a village based hotel that uses existing abandoned or dilapidated traditional buildings in a village, and incorporates them as a part of the group of buildings that collectively constitute a community managed âGramotelâ. Some buildings will constitute luxury homestay rooms, while others constitute common guest areas. The entire Gramotel will incorporate Culture Aanganâs hospitality concept of âAtithi Devo Bhavaâ along with traditional hospitality elements unique to that particular village it will
establish the Gramotel in
Methodology
- Rooms, and community managed buildings will be identified which are in close vicinity of each other.
- Â Skill mapping of interested community members from the same village or nearby will be done.
- Â A detailed analysis of the cultural and environmental heritage of the region will be conducted.
- Various training requirements among the community will be identified appropriate training modules will be created.
- Potential microenterprises will be identified and developed as value addition.
- Â Marketing and partnership avenues will be identified.
Project Outcomes
- Diversified increased livelihoods in the community.
- Increased decision making power leading to women empowerment.
- Enhanced skill building opportunities.
- Preservation of local cultural and art forms.
- Water conservation, green energy initiatives leading to sustainable environment.
- The model can be replicated in other ghost villages in Uttarakhand.
Horizontal Models Can be a Success: The Case Study of Santo
Stefano di Sessanio
- One of the most successful models of a village hotel that has been implemented.
- Santo Stefano di Sessanio is a beautiful 11th century fortified medieval village that was abandoned as people left town in search of work in
bigger cities. - One third of the village of purchased by Daniel Kihlgren in 1999.
- Buildings were restored in the traditional style and the 29 rooms were equipped with modern amenities such as heating, electric sensors etc.
- It also has communal space for hosting weddings, operas etc
- Â On opening in 2004, it sold upto 285 room nights.
- By 2008, the number increased to 7300 room nights.
- The demand for local products such as lentils and saffron increased.
- Today, it is counted as âI Borghi Piu Belli DâItaliaâ, or One of the Most. Beautiful Villages in Italy.