Karnataka tailormade vacation, India

Planet and people

By supporting locally owned hotels and homestays we are helping to provide employment for local communities. All of the hotels on this tour are extremely proud of their strong policies regarding the environment and ecotourism.

Efkay's – this wonderful homestay is nestled amongst hundreds of trees and set on three acres of land situated in the very heart of old Mysuru (Mysore) city, literally walking distance from the Palace and the Zoo. Your hosts are the lovely Jyotsna and Raian - and food can be arranged with their chef. The three rooms are beautifully designed and the homestay is adults only.

Evolve Back. These resorts were previously called Orange County. This group has a comprehensive list of responsible tourism initiatives. All their resorts aim to create local employment, promote local products, minimise consumption of water and energy etc. The group own a windmill which produces so much electricity that after they have taken what they need to run their resorts they have some left over to sell to the grid. To prevent the use of plastic water bottles they provide a Reverse Osmosis machine in every room. Their policy also includes a wide range of initiatives to help the local economy, society and environment as well as a fair trade policy and a ‘conservation through education programme’.

KAAV Safari Lodge has just six guest rooms (four in the main building and two tents). This lodge is so close to Nagarhole that the gardens border the park (the boundary fence is visible from the deck). Safaris and various activities are arranged by the lodge. Bicycles are also available.

It also includes an overnight train which reduces your carbon footprint.

The ground handling of this tour is provided by our local agent and we supply him with more than 90% of his turnover. All of the drivers and staff are local people. Thus we have fifteen local families that are directly financially reliant upon us. Our drivers have a contract and are paid a monthly wage. This is very unusual in South India where most drivers are normally employed on a commission-only basis (not easy for such seasonal work).

Tailor-made vacations cater for couples or small groups and this means that our customers have the opportunity to interact with the locals. All of the guides we use are local.

All of our customers are supplied with detailed information about their vacation. We supply general advice relevant to all customers as well as more specific facts about your particular tour. These documents offer our customers lots of advice and guidance including how to obtain an Indian Visa, which immunisations are recommended, how much to tip people, how to dress appropriately and how to behave in National Parks.