Udupi is more than just religious temples and beaches. Why not keep beautiful memories of this Temple Town safe in a box? Placexplore Lab, a tourism incubator focusing on community-based tourism and experience travel, was founded on this concept. The event is presented by Urban Vision, Red Dot Foundation Global, Udupi Tourism, and Mangaluru City Corporation, with assistance from the US Department of State’s Vital Voices Fortune Mentoring Program.
The experimental keepsake ‘Udupi in a box’ is made up of goods created using GI-tagged objects from the Udupi area, as well as health shots and drinks prepared from local flowers like a blue pea (Shanka Pushpa), hibiscus, and jasmine. Tourists who visit here don’t carry any memories in terms of a keepsake as they do when they travel to distant destinations, says the box, which will also help local jasmine producers who are frequently hampered by arbitrary pricing and a limited local market.
That’s why the Welcomgroup Graduate School of Hotel Administration’s Community Based Experiential Tourism Start-up Incubator was established,” explains Associate Professor and Coordinator of the Department of Food and Beverage Service.
On October 31, a launch and design hackathon was held, with micro-entrepreneurs from the twin districts working on a variety of projects. Surf schools, fishing excursions, local craftsmen with coconut, pottery, and bamboo weaving crafts, Yakshagana, eco-tours, and agricultural visits were among the tourist microenterprise efforts.
This start-up lab also includes sixteen women from the National Rural Livelihood Mission who were educated for self-employment through the district Zilla Panchayat office. As per Prathima Manohar, Founder of Urban Vision and Elsa Marie D’Silva, President of Red Dot Foundation Global, the cohort of entrepreneurs will get mentorship, entrepreneurship training, and a market access platform as part of the incubator program. Tourists may meet local people and participate in true cultural exchanges through community-based tourism.
It’s all about supporting projects managed by locals that benefit both the local community and visitors. Residents may earn money while also exhibiting their culture to guests thanks to community-based tourism, they noted. Chef Thirugnanasambantahm and WGSHA’s Valsaraj and Vageesh Kelkar presented a food and beverage theatre demonstration utilizing local ingredients for worldwide items such as pasta and burgers, as well as wellness shots and juices featuring local flowers such as blue pea, hibiscus, and Jasmine. Mattu Gulla and Shankarapura Jasmine, both GI-tagged items, are important in local cuisine, as per the researchers.
In their product showcase, Team WGSHA showed a variety of Mattu Gulla, betel leaf, Shankarapura jasmine, star fruit, Jack fruit, and other goods that they feel may help communities establish community-based tourism. The team also handed a ‘Udupi in a Box’ keepsake, which included objects constructed from GI-tagged Udupi district items.
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