Country: India

Organization: The Blue Yonder

Year the initiative began: 2004

Project Website: theblueyonder.com

Positioning in the Mosaic of solutions:

• Main barrier addressed: Corporate monolithic approach to tourism
• Main insight addressed: Incorporate sustainable practices

What is the goal of your innovation?
Using Responsible Tourism for generating sustainable livelihoods and preserving local culture and environment, managed and owned by the community.

How does your approach support or embody geotourism?
All the activities we organise as part of the holiday experiences have been developed after consultation with our community members. We have also ensured that the ownership, management and operations remain with the community and not with the Travel Company. The consultation exercise ensures an integrated development towards the well being of the community. All the activities we are organizing along the River Nila are owned operated and managed by the local people. The idea of such a revenue model is to show alternative livelihood and create entrepreneurs within the community. We ensure that the community by no means makes a compromise because of tourism that affects their authenticity in anyway. From the promoters to the present stake holders of the River Nila projects, we were all responding to our surroundings / environment, to be responsible and accountable for the damage that human intervention has caused to the river. The initial briefing and constant interaction with the local people ensures that the guests understand the dynamics of the communities and culture they interact with. This creates interest amongst the travelers who can contribute back to the destination through volunteerism and various other personal contributions.

Describe your approach in detial. How is it innovative?
We follow triple bottomline approach. Creating Wealth: When Nila Foundation (set up to revive and regenerate a dying river) needed funds, TBY was born. We create wealth within the community not through donations or charity, but by creating local entrepreneurs in social business with dignity and community consultations. Investing as a Social Entrepreneur: While discussing the benefits of tourism to potential entrepreneurs in the initial the promoters encountered hesitation and disbelief borne out of incredulity that the area didn’t seem to have any tourism potential. This was taken care of by becoming a stake holder and investing in capacity building. Promoting a dying river as a tourist destination to bring attention to the local community as well as getting international attention towards the plight of the river. This initiative has led many of our guests to make available their services as volunteers to work for the foundation. Focus on the process than the product: -TBY gives Importance to the process not the product to enhance the value of the specific activity. Rather than showing the guests a performance, we ensure that the guests understand the stakes in the performance by seeing the back ground work that leads to the performance.

What types of partnerships or professional developement would be most beneficial in spearding your innovation?
Some partnerships are already in place: Though www.theblueyonder.com was set up to help raise funds for Nila Foundation, it is now creating wealth for the communities it work with. www.theblueyonderassociates.com brings together Responsible Tourism properties. Launched by TBY www.icrtindia.org is now the flag bearer of Responsible Tourism in India. What started as a small river project in four years has a reached a stage to organize the 2nd International Conference on Responsible Tourism in Destinations in Kerala www.responsibletourism2008.org

In one sentence describe what kind of impact, change, or reform your approach is intended to achieve.
Social businesses like TBY can change lives of common man in the remotest regions; responsibility can also mean profitability.

Describe the degree of success of your approach to date. Clearly define how you measure quantitative and qualitative impact in terms of how your approach contributes to the sustainability or enhancement of local culture, environment, heritage, or aesthetics? How does your approach minimize negative impacts?
Cultural and heritage tours we organise along River Nila is now directly benefiting 61 individuals ranging from folk musicians, ritualistic healers, classic percussionists, artisans, ex-sand smugglers to interpreters. The indirect benefits of our holidays are reaching 63 individuals ranging from toddy tappers, oarsmen, drivers and vendors. Out of the 61 direct beneficiaries, 18 of them are women. From just 4 activitiy partners we have more than 100 activity partners who are involved in preserving their art, culture, heritage and tradition. Promoting home stays have save literally saved many traditional and heritage houses that would have otherwise been demolished for lack of maintenance! Promoting a river as a tourist destination has brought in attention of the international communities by winning Conde Naste World Savers Awards 2007, WTM Responsible Tourism Awards and Travel Mole Asia’s (top 3) Best Responsible Tourism website!. Before our guests embark on our holidays, we brief them about the benefits that is measurable amongst local communities and the care we are taking to preserve the environment. This ensures transparency and accountability in our claims of “being Responsible’ as guests are keen on checking the claims and reporting back.

How does your program promote traveler enthusiasm, satisfaction, and engagement with the locale?
Let the travelers speak for us “”As frequent travelers, TBY helped us understand how tourism (when responsibly managed) can be a powerful agent for environmental protection and local economic growth. We value the work that TBY is doing within the communities along River Nila, we also believe their impact is more than on the local level. Now that we have seen how powerful an experience traveling can be when it is organized in a way that benefits the environment and the local people, we will search out more experiences like this in our future trips abroad! Allison and family USA”.

In what ways are local residents actively involved in your innovation, including participation and community input? How has the community responded to or benefited from your approach?
Tourism is not imposed; our work was developed after constant consultation and evaluation with / by locals. Today our communities are planning to set up a micro credit system! We provide regular training and education so that they can become partners in project’s success and even develop their own financial resources by becoming entrepreneurs. Focus on the process of cultural history documentation ensures that guests spend lota of time with villagers and activity partners. This has resulted in improved social and English communication skills of the activity partners. Activities along River Nila are owned operated and managed by local people.

Describe how your innovation helps travelers and local residents better understand the value of the area's cultural and natural heritage, and educates them on local environmental issues. How do you motivate them to act responsibly in their future travel decisions?
We used Responsible Tourism as a tool to spread awareness of many folk art forms, culture and lifestyle that are going into the oblivion. Interaction with travelling community and the knowledge that they are visiting our villages for the richness in the culture brings in a sense of pride amongst the villagers. Since these bring in alternative and supplementary sources of income to all our stake holders, it makes economic sense to our people as well. Answer to question 4 sums up the question on travelers benefit. Check this section also www.theblueyonder.com/guestregister.htm

Is your initiative financially and organizationally sustainable? If not, what is required to make it so? What is the potential demand for your innovation?
Since it’s difficult to sustain a travel industry business based out of three districts in Kerala, we decided to offer holidays to other destinations in India which is available from this season onwards. The destinations include Sikkim, Karnataka, Rajasthan and in Spiti Valley and Sunderbans. Based on the experiences from Kerala and especially River Nila about product research, implementation and destination management we have been researching and identifying destinations listed above so that our holidays benefits local people socially and economically, and creates less impacts environmentally. Global trend is to travel responsibily and 25% of the “cultural creatives” are constantly looking for sustainable travel options!

How is your initiative currently financed? If available, provide information on your finances and organization that could help others. Please list: Annual budget, annual revenue generated, size of part-time, full-time and volunteer staff.
TBY was a sole proprietor ship for the first 3 years and now it’s a Pvt Ltd Company. Credentials and financials can be shared on demand for reference. 7 employees, and more than 500 activity partners in 6 destinations across India who earn supplementary and alternative sources of income with dignity. TBY has many volunteers whom we cant even count!

What is your plan to expand your approach? Please indicate where/how you would like to grow or enhance your innovation, or have others do so.
Based on the experiences, product research, destination management we ve identified destinations in other states so that our holidays benefit local people, socially, economically. Environmentally. We took care to identify our activity partners, focusing on those doing social business and who work with locals, with pulse of local issues.Rather than reinventing the wheel of destination research we developed a network of NGOs , small tour operators and knowledgeable individuals. Our model assures us maximum out reach in short time, and the benefits of our holidays to locals grew from 180 in Kerala to over 500 individuals in six destinations!

What are the main barriers you encounter in managing, implementing, or replicating your innovation? What barriers keep your program from having greater impact?
? Social dynamics and cultural differences ( these are also opportunities) ? Policies and Governments - ? Infrastructure ? Marketing a destination that has never been on the tourist map. ? Conventional industry partners remain conventional! ? Lack of funds!

What is the origin of your innovation? Tell your story.
TBY was set up as a travel company four years back to drawn attention of the world to the status of sadly depleted and neglected Bharatapuzha River (River Nila) in the North of Kerala in India and to help raise funds for Nila Foundation that works to revive and regenerate the dying river. “A river is often the thread that weaves lives and traditions in an ageless manner. A river sustains a civilisation.” We used Responsible Tourism as a tool to spread awareness of many folk art forms, culture and lifestyle that are going into the oblivion. Interaction with travelling community and the knowledge that they are visiting our villages for the richness in the culture brings in a sense of pride amongst the villagers. Since these bring in alternative and supplementary sources of income to all our stakeholders, it makes economic sense to our people as well. By creating a meaningful connection between visitors and the river through interpretations, local people feel more connected with the river as they are the ones giving the interpretation. Retelling stories, legends and songs about the area and by explaining their significance, local people are themselves made aware of their culture and the need to conserve it. The promoters of TBY are from this region. Since it’s difficult to sustain a travel business based out of three districts in Kerala, we decided to offer holidays to other destinations in India which is available from this season onwards. The destinations include Sikkim, Spiti Valley, Karnataka, Sunderbans and Rajasthan. Based on the experiences from Kerala and especially River Nila about product research, implementation and destination management we have been researching and identifying destinations listed above so that our holidays benefits local people socially and economically, and creates less impacts environmentally. So while we organise the holidays ourselves in Kerala and Karnataka, we tied up NGOs in Sikkim and Spiti Valley who believes in our Responsible Tourism policies. In Sunderbans we work with Responsible partners who assures similar quality of work with conviction. We are currently consulting with activity partners in Rajasthan. The above mentioned working model assures us maximum out reach in short time, and the benefits of our holidays to local individuals move from 180 in Kerala to more than 500 individuals in six destinations! The Blue Yonder has received two highly honourable mentions at the 2008 Travel Mole Asia Web Awards Best Responsible Tourism Web Site. 2007 Condé Nast Traveler World Savers Awards and 2006 Responsible Tourism Awards at the World Travel Market in London as a tour operator for using tourism as a tool for poverty reduction and preserving and conserving local culture and tradition. The Blue Yonder now supports www.nilafoundation.org, www.theblueyonderassocaites.com, www.icrtindia.org, www.vayali.org. TBY is now also in the process of developing first ever Travellers Forest in the state of Kerala with local Governments as NGOs as partners. TBY will be launching ‘Gokarna initiatives’ in June 2008 to address the waste management issues in Gokarna. Details can be send on demand.

Please provide a personal bio. Note this may be used in Changemakers' marketing material.
An avid traveller, Gopi has worked in areas ranging from Palliative Care, software marketing to disaster Management and finally with responsible travel. "I haven't stopped smiling ever since the idea of The Blue Yonder caused a ripple while I was taking a dip in River Nila. We have managed to take that smile on to many faces across the world and that's one of the achievements of Blue Yonder." He is excited about soon-to-be launched "Gokarna initiative" which could change the way travel destinations will be managed in the future in India. The Blue Yonder is a dream he will live for a lifetime.

Please write an overview of your project. This text will appear when people scroll over the icon for your entry on the Google map located on teh competition homepage.
The Blue Yonder was set up as a travel company based out of Bangalore (Karnataka), four years back (end of 2003) to bring in attention of the world to the status of sadly depleted and neglected Bharatapuzha River (River Nila) in the North of Kerala in India and to help raise funds for Nila Foundation that works to revive and regenerate the dying river. “A river is often the thread that weaves lives and traditions in an ageless manner. A river sustains a civilisation.” We use Responsible Tourism as a tool to spread awareness of many folk art forms, culture and lifestyle that are going into the oblivion. Interaction with travelling community and the knowledge that they are visiting our villages for the richness in the culture brings in a sense of pride amongst the villagers. Since these bring in alternative and supplementary sources of income to all our stake holders, it makes economic sense to our people as well.

Contact Information
Mr Gopinath Parayil
Founder and Chief Executive
The Blue Yonder
Mailing Address
gopi@theblueyonder.com