SHARED by India and Bangladesh, the largest mangrove forests in the world were till recently out of bounds for budget travellers. If you wanted to hop across to the Sunderbans, you had to get on one of the cruises run by private tour operators. Not any more.

‘’The number of tourists is increasing though as of now, it is well within the carrying capacity of the region,’’ says P Vyas, field director, Sunderbans Tiger Reserve.

In recent years eco tourism — a participatory approach to tourism where the end beneficiaries are the local inhabitants — has caught on in the region. The essence of the new concept is about not just getting a glimpse of the elusive Royal Bengal Tiger. Rather, it involves a gamut of activities.

With the state government and locals joining hands to promote the concept, the Sunderbans has been flooded with tourists, both domestic and overseas. Tour operators say they have been conducting routine trips for tourists from states like Maharashtra, Gujarat and from the south.

“Certainly, there has been an overall increase in the bulk of tourists but what is interesting is that even the profile of tourists has changed. They are more aware and keen to learn the nuances of conservation,’’ says Asit Biswas, spokesperson for Help Tourism, Association for Conservation and Tourism.

The recently launched luxury cruiseliner by Vivada Inland Waterways Ltd is a case in point. Targeted at the upper end tourists, the cruiseliner is a one of its kind partnership between the West Bengal Forest Development Corporation and Vivada.

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