Alternative tourism is that kind of tourism, where tourists like to do things differently. Alternative tourists want to be more with living cultures rather with other tourists. Instead of using special tourist accommodation and facilities, they prefer to use or share the services of local population. In this way they get the opportunities to experience some aspects of their lives.

Tourists prefer alternatives because they are concerned with the negative impact, which mass tourism can have on a destination. Tour operators can specialise in such forms by focusing people and their culture rather than providing created comforts. Such trips may be of an extended duration, may cost less than providing created comforts and the traditional two week vacation but they may be also high priced. Travel is with local friends and the purpose is to come to one’s own understanding of political, social and religious traditions. India is a popular alternative destination. It is a “subtle mix of ancient and modern, ritual and urban, filled with local color and vitality.

Features of Alternative Tourism

Also known as Sustainable Tourism, Alternative Tourism adheres to the triple bottom-line of sustainability, that is to develop and progress without depleting environmental, socio-cultural and economic resources for future generations. In other words, these resources must be used, preserved and managed in such a way as to move forward, while keeping in mind the Native American proverb: ‘we do not inherit the world from our ancestors, we are borrowing it from our children.’

Tourism can be environmentally feasible, as opposed to the pre-conceived idea exhibited by Mass Tourism during the past decades. It is not all about deforestation, land and water pollution or chains of gigantic resorts all over the place. ‘Sea, Sun and Sand’ Tourism, a major form of Mass Tourism, has caused its own death by saturating the most popular and splendid coastal spots with hotel resorts, hence permanently disfiguring these locations physically, depleting and polluting its resources and attributes respectively. This has led to an increase in awareness amongst host communities and potential tourists alike, and hence emerged forms of tourism that aimed at enjoying a destination while minimizing alterations to nature and monitoring the impacts of visits at the same time.

First of all, environmentally sustainable tourism businesses would take into account the characteristics of a location at the Planning Stage of a project. This is usually part of the EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment). The fauna and flora would be meticulously studied and limited changes (or none at all) would be permitted, so that micro-ecosystems would be able to survive and cohabit along with the implementation of the project. This way, endangered species (both plants and animals) would still retain their habitat and the environment would be altered in the smallest possible way. Furthermore, the project should not be physically alienating to its surroundings, that is, it should be able to blend in and not be an eyesore. For instance, a state of the art hotel in a remote, under-developed village