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Asia, Responsible Tourism

Exploring a Different Side of India, Tours with a Purpose, and a Special Offer

This month in our series the Travel Scene we profile Nick Hamilton from Reality Tours and Travel, a locally-run tour company in Mumbai that is using tours to change the perception of India, give back, and make a long-term difference in its communities.

We caught up with Nick after the launch event in Mumbai to learn more (plus keep reading for Nick’s special offer to Travel Massive community members).

Nick

So, how did you first find yourself in India?

I moved to India a year and a half ago and I have been living outside of my native US for the past 5 years (South Korea, France and now, India). I’ve done a combination of long term travel and living abroad and I’ve found that I learn the most when I live in a place, as opposed to traveling there. Moving to a new country, for me, is a form of long term travel that is an attempt to better understand a culture. I travelled through India for a few months back in 2012 and found it fascinating. But I realized to have any chance of figuring this country out I would need to spend a much more significant period of time here. When the opportunity came to work for a travel related social business in Mumbai, I jumped on it.

You now help market a unique travel product in Mumbai. Can you tell us about Reality Tours?

We offer educational slum tours of Dharavi, Mumbai and Sanjay Colony, Delhi. We also run a variety of other city tours in Mumbai and Delhi. Our Bicycle Tour in Mumbai and Street Food Tour in Old Delhi are particularly popular. We also run a 14 day tour through Rajasthan and a 10 day tour through Kerala.

While our tours are diverse, they are united in that they all attempt to show a complete picture of India – the rich culture and history as well as the many challenges it currently faces.

Overview of Dharavi (1)

Early Morning South Mumbai Bicycle Tour (1)

What makes your tour company different from other companies?

We were founded with a social purpose not profits [unlike most tour companies out there]. We set out with two goals: to break down negative stereotypes aimed at slum communities and to generate money for local development projects in those communities.

How do you generate money for local development projects?

80% of the profits from all of our tours and 100% of the profits from merchandise sales help fund our sister NGO, Reality Gives, which runs educational programs in the communities where Reality Tours works and helps empower people through better education.

When our co-founder, Chris, went on the favela tours in Brazil he saw a disconnect in that the tours were taking people through a community, highlighting challenges in that area but not doing much to address them. It was a similar situation in India. Even before Reality Tours and Travel were turning a profit, we were supporting social work in Dharavi.

Travel Massive is about empowering change in travel. How do your tours inspire change or empower others?

I think the tour side of the organization inspires change and the NGO side empowers others. Over the past 10 years we have worked with over 3,000 beneficiaries through a variety of programs. We also run a post-tour survey and we have found that over 70% of our guests are inspired to take action for social change. I think this is because our tour not only challenges perceptions but also serves as an up close introduction to grassroots NGOs and a social business model. Many of our guests go on to donate to Reality Gives, come back and volunteer or even work for us (that’s what happened in my case!)

We are currently developing a network for our guests called the Reality Changers Network. The goal of this network is to help people find the best way to get involved in the social sector (either with Reality Gives or elsewhere) and give them the motivation and resources to make it happen. We would love to have other tour providers connect their guests to this network. Please get in touch if you’re interested!

So, your travellers are actually supporting more than they think when they hop on one of your tours

Yes, for example the flagship program of Reality Gives is our Youth Empowerment Program, a 3-month course focusing on English, IT and life skills for 18-30 year olds.

We also have 3 community centres that offer a variety of creative activities when the YEP program isn’t running such as dance, self-defence, yoga, girls football, cricket and more. All of these programs cater to young people but they also offer an important opportunity for those normally excluded from such activities, such as young girls and housewives.

Bipin explaining the work of Reality Gives at a Dharavi Community Centre
Bipin explaining the work of Reality Gives at a Dharavi Community Centre

Reality Gives Community Centre Classes (1)

What are some myths or misconceptions you think people may have about travel to India? How can we change this?

The biggest misconceptions that I hear revolve around safety, sanitation and crowds. While there are of course certain aspects of truth to these concerns, they are often greatly exaggerated and definitely not reasons to avoid visiting India. I think the India’s travel reputation is slowly changing, but we need to keep telling compelling travel stories and provide tips for avoiding the difficulties.

Here is an insightful video of our co-founder, Krishna who recently gave a Tedx talk on Challenging the Perceptions of Slums:

What is the biggest challenge of the tourism industry in India you wish to see resolved?

I’m very happy to see the visa on arrival scheme being implemented; I think that will give a nice boost to Indian tourism. Sawchh Bharat is another positive sign from the government that could boost India’s reputation abroad.

One pretty simple thing that I would like to see improved would be to make train and bus stations more accessible for foreigners. The railway system in India is pretty impressive in my opinion, but navigating the booking process and the bus and train stations can be very challenging for those that don’t speak the local language. New apps and websites are helping a lot with booking. And I think changes as simple as adding signage in English could go a long way in improving station accessibility.

Can you recommend any helpful resources for people who want to travel or work in India?

There are several organizations that are doing good work, helping to facilitate trips or moves to India in order to make it more accessible. Braingain.co facilitates all aspects of young foreign professionals moving to India to work. Indogenius introduces young people from England and the US to India through educational and experiential trips. Happy Traveling Girl is putting together a network of solo female travellers from India and abroad to tackle safety issues.

How about your own travels – if you could book a ticket tomorrow, where would you go?

Northeast India. I haven’t been to this region yet!

Nick and Reality Tours are offering Travel Massive community members 20% off to experience one of their tours. The code must be used by July 31st but there is no restriction on actual tour date which means buy now and take the tour the next time you travel to India! Follow them on Travel Massive to get the discount code.


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