Eight years ago, the Open Eyes project started with the intention of creating a tourism company that could have a positive impact on both the local population and in the hearts of the travellers. Today, it is an Award-winning tour operator, organising cultural and wellness tours to India that support local communities, women, artisans, and encourage sustainable travel practices. Since 2011, it has worked towards including the poor, and especially women in the tourism value chain, to activate positive changes in the places visited. It focuses on women’s empowerment to grow participation and aspirations. Unlike most traditional tours that are convention and commercial driven, the Open Eyes Project looks for a new perspective and dialogue showing culture in India.
She Guides: Despite travel and tourism is one of the largest and fastest growing industries in India with and annual growth of 6.9% (US450billion) by 2028, it is renowned for providing low pay, low status, low-skilled, precarious and seasonal work to women in typically female “feminine” occupations. On the other hand, tourism employment is overtly gender biased. In India, 95% of guides are men (IATO, list of guides Northern region) leaving a lot of room for improving tourism’ empowerment for women. In the Indian context, less than a quarter of women (23.7 percent) participate in the labour market and women’s participation in the workforce is steadily declining (17.5%-SDG India Index, 2019) leading to increasing women’s time poverty (Oxfam India, 2017).
Through the Intercultural Guide training programme for Women in India, the company aims to train 300 women to become Intercultural tour guides and sustain them over three years. The project would also connect women with tourist agencies and online platforms to allow them to avail of opportunities for entrepreneurship. Tour guiding would provide women with flexible and supplemental earning opportunities in this growing industry where women can combine work and home responsibilities.