Apart from benefitting the environment and economy, smaller group travel stands to benefit local culture and society a great deal too.
Local culture and society is promoted because there are a larger number of guides that get the opportunity to be employed and earn an income for their families. Most of the places we travel to are isolated, unheard of areas, where life is very relaxed and laidback. As a result, the opportunities to earn an income are stifled for the locals. By way of smaller group travel, a larger number of locals are employed and this in turn, helps us gain a lot of knowledge because they give us a lot of insight into the culture and the society they come from. So, there’s a great deal of promotion of their inherent culture and by way of this, awareness spreads, knowledge is shared and developmental plans for these isolated local societies are put into action.
Also, cultural sensitivity is greatly enhanced because unlike in bigger groups where you’re too caught up in the listening to whispers of sweet nothings of the gossipmongers in each other’s ears, here, you’re made to open your ears and actually listen because there isn’t much to distract you. It’s easier to understand the subtleties of a particular culture when you travel in a smaller group because that personal relationship develops and you realize that even though you might not belong to that particular place, it doesn’t mean you cannot respect it for what it is. Simple things like taking off your shoes and not making gestures, which may seem normal to you, but are really offensive to the locals, go a long way. You learn to respect them and in turn, gain a huge amount of respect for yourself too. Like they say, sharing is caring.
