When Cyclone Aila smashed into Bangladesh and eastern India in 2009, Gopinath Parayil and his team became accidental humanitarians.
Parayil’s responsible tourism company, Blue Yonder, frequently worked in the Sundarbans, a forested area that straddles the border between India and Bangladesh and is famed for its tiger reserves and mangroves. Usually Blue Yonder provided tours and partnered with local communities there, but when the cyclone hit, Sundarbans was one of the worst-affected areas. The team jumped into action, helping in any way they could.
They were “literally pulling people out of debris,” Parayil said. His company and others also provided accommodation to people displaced by the storm. “The tourism industry had resorts and hotels where we had enough water [and] electricity, because many of the properties were actually not dependent on the power grid, which [was] all damaged, but on renewable energy sources,” he explained.