Welcome to MyGHTi!
Pronounced ‘mi-ght-y’, we hope that the MyGHTi project will transform the lives of local women along the GHT. The GHT is an amazing opportunity for tourism to benefit hosts and guests across the Himalaya. At MyGHTi, we believe that the best guide is a local, the kindest place is a home and at the heart of travel is the relationship between a guest and their host.
Empower. Transform. Regenerate.
MyGHTi is a project born out of years of coordinating tourism along the Great Himalaya Trail. We want to improve the quality of life and liveable environment for communities and individuals in remote villages across Nepal, Bhutan and India.
Without the support of communities along the GHT, it would not be possible to do the trek. We feel that paying a fair price for a product or service is the bare minimum we should be doing. The GHT is amazing for trekkers, so it should be amazing for the locals too! MyGHTi is our way of giving back… giving back far more than we take and making the Himalaya a better place for everyone.
The what, how and why of MyGHTi in a nutshell.
We’re proud to be a FINALIST in the Regenerative Travel Impact Awards!
Check out our MyGHTi entry and please vote for us in the Travel Initiative of the Year category.
MyGHTi Vision
Empowering communities to provide transformative experiences along the Great Himalaya Trail by promoting thriving female-owned, sustainable, regenerative micro-enterprises.
MyGHTi Goals
- Empower female-owned enterprises to control and manage tourism within their communities and distribute profits to local causes.
- Host-communities are recognised as the primary custodians and guardians of fragile Himalayan landscapes, cultures and traditions.
- Be world-renowned for offering unique transformative experiences in exceptionally scenic, remote and diverse landscapes.
- Work towards permanent protection for all Himalayan landscapes, as well as keeping them well maintained and effectively managed.
- MyGHTi will achieve its goals through enhancing the strength and commitment of community groups, staff and volunteers, and the broader adventure travel community.
MyGHTi is based on sustainable tourism practices and incorporates 15 UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
PLANET
- Regenerative Ecosystems
- Wildlife Coexistence
- Environmental Reparation
Environmental variables relating to climate change, natural resources, water and air quality, energy conservation and land use.
PEOPLE
- Societal Wellbeing
- Cultural Abundance
- Quality of Life
Social variables dealing with community, education, equity, social resources, cultural integrity, health, well-being, quality of life and liveable environment.
PROFIT
- Benefit Distribution
- Empowering Governance
- Economic Resilience
Economic variables dealing with the bottom line, community resilience and control, and distribution of benefits.
MyGHTi is an integrated system of evaluating the impacts of tourism that focuses on the host communities and individuals. Without hosts, there would be no one to care for guests. For more information about how we evaluate treks, see The Impact of Your Trek.
THE MyGHTi PATH: STEPS 1-5
Our 5-Step Path involves achievable, incremental steps that gradually propel MyGHTi towards our goal. Experience has taught us that everyone involved must attain the same level of understanding and practice before embarking on the next step.
MyGHTi CURRENT STATUS: Step 1
Project progress has been slowed due to Covid, but we are managing to make progress! So far we have:
- Completed pilot social impact survey in the Khumbu (Everest Region) of Nepal in October-November 2020 – watch the Project Film
- Published a peer-reviewed theoretical approach to Social Impact surveying – Assessment of the Social Impacts of Community Based Tourism: A Baseline Survey in the Sagarmatha (Everest) National Park Region, Nepal. Published by De Gruyter Oldenbourg September 10, 2021
- August 2021: Submitted The highest mountain in the shadow of climate change. Managing tourism and environment in World Heritage Site Mount Everest/Sagarmatha National Park, Nepal report to UNESCO.
Do you want to do the MyGHTi Survey?
We believe that individuals and communities primarily identify impacts from a quality of life and liveable environment perspective. Therefore the core social impacts of tourism are essentially the same in any location. So, we have created a survey system for communities and individuals who live in tourism destinations.
The survey is not designed for people who run travel companies. However, the results can be used to design better tourism products that create positive impacts for the places your clients visit.
The purpose of this social impact of tourism survey is to ask the following questions:
- From a community and individual perspective, what are the major issues faced in a tourism destination?
- Is there any pattern to, or similarity between, quality of life and liveable environment impacts in any tourism destination?
- Can social impacts be identified consistently from one tourist destination to another?
To do the survey, visit the MyGHTi Community Tourism Survey page and follow the instructions.
Would you like more information about MyGHTi?
We’d love to tell you and get you involved if that’s what you’d like? Please Get In Touch for more information! Also, we have published a range of research and working papers that explore the issues surrounding sustainable tourism:
- Assessment of the Social Impacts of Community Based Tourism: A Baseline Survey in the Sagarmatha (Everest) National Park Region, Nepal
- Reframing the Sustainable Tourism Paradox
- Wanna Go Trekking in Nepal?
Or perhaps you want to know a bit more about the background to MyGHTi? Then check out this interview with Robin at midlandstraveller.com