Can Community-Based Tourism Be a Sustainable Solution For A Better Community Life? Discussing the Concept, Benefits, and Challenges
Tourism has long been viewed as a sector capable of improving people's economic welfare. Many experts however argue that tourism does not always guarantee a higher income for the communities as on several occasions while designing a tourism development blueprint, “community participation” has received little attention. In this context, one type of tourism, which is directly related to “community participation”, is Community-Based Tourism (CBT). CBT is increasingly gaining popularity i...
Responsible Tourism: The Mantra for Sustainable Tourism Development
In the tourism and hospitality industry, Responsible Tourism has now become a catchphrase. It focuses on maximizing the positive aspects of tourism by raising knowledge about environmental protection and cultivating a deep feeling of responsibility among tourism stakeholders in order to accomplish the holistic and long-term development of tourism destinations. Responsible tourism is neither a type nor a form of tourism; rather, it is an alternative approach to tourism progress, primarily driv...
Analyzing the Effect of Covid-19 Pandemic on Tourists’ Psyche and Effective Implications for the Public Transport System for Safe-Travel: A Case Study on India
In the process of unlocking India after the COVID-19 outbreak, the Indian tourism and transport industry is resuming to revive the economy. In this scenario, it is substantial to examine the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the travel pattern of the Indians. At the same time, making public transport safe to prevent mass transmission of the Coronavirus is equally important to ensure safe travel. The present study investigates the impact of COVID-19 on the travel behavior of the Indians,...
Pro-Poor Tourism in India: Reality or Hyperbole!
Tourism industry has been applauded for being the sunrise industry for its continuous growth and potential to alleviate poverty. India is a country with diverse untapped tourism resources and also, a country that has suffered from persistent poverty. Henceforth, the tourism sector can act as a panacea to the problem of poverty especially in a developing country like India. In the last two decades, a good number of tourism initiatives with a ‘Pro-poor approach’ are launched in India but th...
Rural Tourism: Need, Scope and Challenges in Indian Context
Rural Tourism exhorts tourists to spend quality time in a nuanced fashion by engaging them in different ethnic, indigenous and aesthetic practices in rural areas. The stresses generating from urban life and the detachment and distance from natural environment occasionally provoke the urbanites to escape from their monoculture city life. In such case, rural locations seem to be an ideal place to release stress and also provide an opportunity to be re-engaged in a simpler way of life that offer...
Measuring the Guest-Host Interaction: An Empirical Analysis for Sustainable Tourism Development in Sikkim
The conventional concept of destination development undermined the sustainable issues and its orientation. Later on, the confusion was not the adoption of sustainable development philosophy but its correct implication and application. Alpine State Sikkim is primarily known as an exotic, idyllic, multi-ethnic Indian hill station since 1975 with its distinct biogeographic and socio-cultural characteristics. Being one of the successful and mature alpine Indian States, tourism development in Sikk...
Tourism-led Poverty Alleviation in South Asia – An Analytical Rapportage
Presently, when the whole world is busy celebrating the technological advancements, accumulated wealth and gains from globalization along with industrialization, poverty continues to stand as a ubiquitous and prevalent predicament in South Asia which is home to a quarter of the world population and nearly one third of the poor people in the world. Albeit, there has been a sizable reduction in the poverty headcount ratio since 1990, about 256 million people remain in absolute poverty in this r...
Role of Local Community in Heritage Management for Sustainable Cultural Tourism Development: A Study on Lalbagh Region, Murshidabad, West Bengal
In recent times, a growing movement has been observed on the involvement of local community for the conservation of heritages with an aim of sustainable use of natural and cultural resources. Social science research on community participation in any kind of development has been conducted in several fields and tourism discipline is also not an exception. Generally, community can engage in tourism business directly through having some control i.e. in planning & management and/or providing servi...
Conservation and Management of Indian Built Heritages: Exploring the Issues and Challenges
Heritage Tourism has emerged as a catalyst for economic growth thanks to its ability to create alternative jobs, induce developed infrastructures and increase the flow of both domestic and foreign tourists which result in regional as well as national growth. India, a country blessed with remarkable natural and manmade heritages has welcomed this niche form tourism with open arms. However, as a consequence of negligence and lack of proper management skills, the sustainability of these monument...
Sustainable Destination Development through Responsible Community Based Tourism Initiatives: Select Case Studies from Bali Village, Indian Sunderbans
Responsible tourism is emerging out as a tourism strategy that focuses on the maximization of tourism benefits. It not only emphasizes on the environmental protection but also remembers the tourism stakeholders their socio-economic and environmental responsibilities to a certain place and to its people. In this background, the current paper has tried to access two Community Based Tourism (CBT) initiatives namely (1) Sundarban Jungle Camp, and (2) Tora Eco resort and Life Experience Centre in ...