We were the one of the first beneficiaries of Rural Tourism Scheme of The Ministry of Tourism, GoI, and the only ones who continued it through community participation during 2004-2009. We were unique in the RTS, as we were the first ones to use restored, fixed up houses for tourist facilities , that not only included accommodation, but it was an accommodation with a difference, using local ethos and materials we set a bench mark for rural aesthetics and services and experience that is completely ecofriendly. other than accommodation we set up a library for local communities and the visitor, a craft shop, that gave boost to the local artisans, we also created a community space in a garden which became very popular, set SWM systems with infrastructure such as bins, compost areas, rakes to clear the streets of rubble, planted and maintained trees, which provide shade today. we are the path makers of Rural tourism even today.
Today Anegundi has many humble but elegant heritage homes that offer accommodation for tourists, retaining the local style of architecture. We have more than 100 home owners who have come forward to convert their ruined homes into business incubators as the concept is becoming popular amongst tourist and the owners of the historic homes.
We believe in order to restore the dignity of the historic settlement of Anegundi to give visibility to the beauty of traditional village, the only way is financially benefit from the restoration, redesign keeping in withe local architectural typology , for adaptive reuse and the owners can finally dwell in a dignified beautiful home.
UNDP – Endogenous Tourism Project (2006-2009):
Under the Endogenous Tourism Project supported by UNDP, New Delhi, after a PRA, a team of local youth, women were trained in various skills that were directly related to Rural tourism hospitality as well as indirectly related to areas that tourism requires, ie, shopping, cultural events etc. Through this project we addressed training the local youth in specialty guiding such as rural, nature, adventure, History, Mythology etc. we inculcated importance e of zero waste and trained the GP sweepers in Q&Q practice for SWM, segregation, composting, which continues till today. Cooking, serving, housekeeping, aesthetics that compliment the village architecture, education through performing arts, crafts and bazaars, cultural event management, were some of the highlights of the training program. We held Moonlight Santhes, for 5 years, which were extremely popular. Today the community continues to be involved in the Rural Tourism, not only they benefit financially from it but it has created pride of the village amongst the local community, the village looks beautiful , as traditional architecture has a place of pride amongst the hearts of the local community. A neigh in for specialized services, that is fast becoming popular and we are full during the 6 months of season. We are involved in taking various aspects of eco, rural heritage tourism ahead and more are keen to undergo training in Anegundi.