Socio-Economic Aspects of Sustainable Ecotourism Development: The Case of Kerala (original) (raw)
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The tribal communities are one of the highly marginalised groups and not many studies addresses the existing tribal welfare opportunities and practices available in the ecotourism destinations. This study illustrates the conservation governance model that dovetails cogently the imperatives of conservation, livelihoods and economic production has been documented. Parambikulam Tiger Reserve is one of the most popular ecotourism sites in India. This paper highlights innovative practices adopted at the reserve with an intention of replicating these procedures elsewhere. The study identified possible direct and indirect benefits bestowed on the local community and ecology by tourism such as transformation of the reserve into cattle free, plastic free, poacher free, fire free zone and also strategies that led to the generation of sizable revenue directed towards conservation and community welfare. Several implications of ecotourism are introduced and recommendations for future research are presented.
International Journal of Scientific Research, 2013
Tourism is an industry which employees the leisure time of the people in a useful way. It is a major engine of economic growth in most parts of the world. The immense potential of tourism is particularly relevant for developing nations like India. In respect of India the abundance of extremely serene environments and also quite a large number of historical and religious locations is an additional attraction, unlike most other parts of the world. This favorable situation is more applicable in respect of Kerala state in Indian subcontinent, often referred to as 'Gods own Country' in view of its scenic locations and conducive geographic, climatic and other conditions. Along with the appreciable growth in tourism over the last two decades or more in India and the high growth prospects of the tourism industry, there are growing apprehensions regarding the sustainability of the industry in view of the adverse environmental impacts of tourism. Both the favourable and adverse aspects as above are probably more applicable to 'Gods own Country' than any other state in India. As it is widely recognized that of the different types of tourism, the nature-friendly tourism model viz. 'Ecotourism' alone can be sustainable for development in the long run, this paper analyzes the prospects and challenges of ecotourism with reference to 'Thenmala' ecotourism project in Kollam district of Kerala, and suggests strategies for sustainable development of tourism.
Studies in Indian Place Names, 2020
Tourism has undergone remarkable growth, making significant contribution to the local and national economy. Tourism accounts for 10 per cent of the global GDP, creating 1 in every 10 jobs in the world. Every year, millions of tourists flock to various tourist attractions such as historical sites, museums and coastlines, bringing income and jobs to local communities. The trend of ecotourism has been consistently gaining attention since the mid-20th century, which now represents an estimated 11.4% of all tourism consumers spending. Ecotourism is a budding area of tourism and Karnataka which is rich in cultural areas and natural habitat attracts tourists to these places. There are large number of wild life sanctuaries such as Bandipur, Nagarhole and Ranganathittu. The study attempts to understand the impact of ecotourism on the sustainable development-economic status, employment generation and environmental conservation among the local communities of the Kodagu District. This study is exploratory in nature that intends to find out how ecotourism has benefitted the local communities of Kodagu on the basis of economic status, employment generation and environmental sustainability. The data has been collected from both primary sources as well as secondary sources. A sample of 99 responses has been collected from Kodagu Dist, through a method of convenient random sampling and snowball sampling. The study reveals that the governments should invest more in the areas of infrastructural development for the local community members working in the forest areas, promote savings and investment platforms that can help contribute to the development of ecotourism in Kodagu.
Alternative implications of tourism have been predominating in modern societies. Almost all reserved and ecologically areas are increasingly accepting this use and benefits pertaining to diversified and sustainable scope for income and employment generations. This article is an attempt in a Tsunami affected ecotourism site Pichavaram and surrounding areas where the source of income was found either agriculture or marine resource collections. This article has highlighted the policy issues for livelihood diversifications of the local communities with reference to ecotourism and other alternative opportunities through Transformed Herfindahl Index. The findings of the study exhibited the some measures to enhance the capability of small farmers/fishermen to face the challenges of globalization and ecological threats. It is also found desirable to undertake appropriate ecotourism programs adjusted with the dynamics of crop diversification and marine resource exploitation to achieve a higher economic growth leading to sustainable development.
Role of Ecotourism Practices in Sustaining Livelihoods Opportunities among Local Communities
This study explores the different livelihood opportunities for local communities introduced by ecotourism development practices. Ecotourism is one of the economy's fastestgrowing sectors, with an estimated growth rate of 10-15 per cent (Panos, 1997). Ecotourism initiatives have been increasingly esteemed as an eco-friendlier substitute to the traditional tourism industry approach. Ecotourism initiatives aim to widen people's awareness about the importance of sustainable tourism. According to the Wildlife Institute of India, India has a large network of 1014 protected including 106 National parks, 573 Wildlife Sanctuaries, 115 Conservation Reserve and 220 Community Reserves covering a total of 1,75,169.42sq km of the country's geographical area, which is approximately 5.32%. (wii.gov.in) The area has the potential to generate employment opportunities for many people who live close to these natural regions, apart from hiring professionals who are appointed for various other managerial and skilled services. Ecotourism generates several direct and indirect livelihood opportunities for local people. According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Tourism is responsible for one of 11 jobs and 10% of the world's economic outcome. The study seeks to explore the various livelihood opportunities available to local communities in protected areas, even while securing the ecological integrity of these natural sites.
ECOTOURISM PROSPECTUS IN INDIA: LOCALS' ATTITUDE TOWARDS ITS IMPACT
Ecotourism is one of the fastest growing new forms of tourism in India. People are now in search of a quiet life where they can spend their holidays with nature. They want to get chances of interacting with the local communities and learn from them. India is very rich in natural recourses due to mountains, deserts, forests; rivers etc. Ecotourism affects the socio-cultural and economic conditions of the local communities. The objectives of the present study are to examine the present scenario of ecotourism in India and to investigate local residents' perception about socioeconomic and environmental impacts of ecotourism. India has huge potential for ecotourism. The Ecotourists prefer to visit a number of popular, beaches, tea gardens, backwaters national parks, wildlife sanctuaries etc. as well as interact with tribal communities, and villagers. It is being promoted both by the government and the tour operators. Further, it is found that ecotourism positively affected the employment opportunities, income, infrastructure but the locals consider tourism to be the major cause of culture degradation in India. They are now more aware of the environmental conservation.
Socio-Economic development through Ecotourism: A Case Study of Kitam Village, South Sikkim
Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research, 2019
Ecotourism is the most feasible industry of Sikkim that manages both conservation and economic development. Community based ecotourism has been largely practices in the state of Sikkim. Participation of local community in ecotourism raises awareness in protection of natural and cultural resources at any destinations. Local community has been identified the key agent for successful ecotourism development. Kitam village has been identified as an Ecotourism Zone by Directorate of Ecotourism, Sikkim Forest Department. Tourists visiting 'Kitam Bird Sanctuary' has been viewed the core feature in ecotourism development of this village. Therefore, the present study made an attempt to understand the impact of ecotourism in view of environmental and socioeconomic development in the village of Kitam, South Sikkim. The finding of this study shows that participation of local community in ecotourism has made significant contributions in providing alternate livelihood. This study also tries to indicate some negative impact of ecotourism development in Kitam.
IOSR Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 2012
Realizing the uncompensated catastrophe that modern tourism generates, the protagonists of sustainable development emphasize the need for making resilience to nature; today the option is 'Nature Ecotourism, i.e. tourism basically depending natural attractions in a pollution free environment. The present paper focuses on the Thenmala Eco-tourism Project in India which is India's first planned Eco-tourism destination due to its unique vistas, bio diversity and functioning. The Thenmala Eco-tourism shares its resources with the famous Shendurey Widlife Sanctuary at the foothills of Western Ghats. The prime objective of Thenmala Ecotourism projects is to minimize the negative impacts and create an economic and social environmental which generates greater economic benefit for local people and enhances the well-being of the host communities. It provides more enjoyable experience for tourism through more meaningful connections with local people and a greater understanding of local, cultural, social and environmental issues. The paper discusses the economic, ecological and social impact of Thenmala Eco-tourism, i.e., in a densely populated State like Kerala, where the arrival of tourists is increasing year after year, how tourism is well maintained without degrading the ecosystem is the hypothesis of the paper.
Livelihood Security and Sustainability of Ecotourism Destinations in Kerala#
2020
Tourism sector of Kerala has remarkably grown in the past few years. It has emerged as one of the major contributors to the state GDP with total revenue of Rs. 33,383.68 Crores and Rs. 8,392.11 Crores of Foreign Exchange Earnings (FEEs) (Kerala Tourism Statistics, 2018). The Tourist Arrivals in Kerala is accounted to be 10.92 lakh foreign tourists and 1.47 crores domestic tourists for the year 2017. The initiative of the Kerala tourism focuses on sustainable and eco-friendly development of the tourism sector. With the accelerated investment in the tourism sector, it is likely that the sector would provide employment opportunities for over 10,000 people every year as presented in the “Citizens Charter of Kerala Tourism”. Kerala has been fortunately endowed with immense comparative natural attractions: backwaters, beaches, forests, hillstations, health tourism etc. all preserved in its pristine form. Further investment can be brought if it facilitates sustainable tourism options.