Review of policy and strategy of tourism development in uttaranchal: evolving alternative framework

Abstract

This study concentrated on effective strategy for the development of tourism InUttaranchal by keeping the sustainability, promotion and the community in focus. The specific objective was to develop a strategy for the development of tourism in Uttaranchal. Uttaranchal is a newly created state of union, which has very limited resources to sustain in the long run, unless its potential in the hydropower and tourism are taped in a methodical, systematic and sustainable manner. In this study, the efforts were made to explore the ways, which can develop the tourism vis-a-vis the economy in sustained manner. Tourism is one of the major bread earners for the people of Uttaranchal and it is developing as the largest industry in the state in terms of employment generation and share of it in state gross domestic product. It is stated by the state government that tourism industry will be mainstay of its economy and this accorded priority will create new avenues for local people in terms of economic opportunities. With the economic opportunities through tourism may enforce or erode their commitment to ecological conservation and sustainable development. My approach in this paper was to explore the most appropriate strategy to develop the tourism in the state and found that unless you have proper marketing research and useful data the effectiveness in handling tourists can never be achieved. Mountain tourism, which is predominant tourism of Uttaranchal understood as tourism activities for which mountains have a comparative advantage, does not find a distinct place in the day to day life of the communities habitating those mountainous regions and this type of tourism was also absent in national policies of most of the countries except in terms of specific measures to promote certain type of tourism, e.g., trekking and mountaineering, which are mountain specific. Recently the policy thrust towards communities has changed in national as well as state policies. And there is more and more talk of the community involvement. As tourism increases in mountain regions around the world, environmental and social impacts can also be expected to increase. Tourism's potential for improving environmental conservation and community wellbeing is nevertheless considerable. The key to accessing the potential is the direct involvement of the local communities within a realm of supportive regional or national policy. In this study some practices are identified which appear to be creating a more equitable distribution of tourism opportunities and benefits, innovative practices of branding and promotion. All these practices are based on the principle of local control partnership, sustainable development and conservation. Although these practices are derived from specific case studies, many of them in my opinion have the potential to be applied globally in mountain regions.