International Journal of Management and Social Sciences Research (IJMSSR) Volume 2, No.

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Sustainable Tourism Development in Uttarakhand Region of India

Dr. Nawaz Ahmed, Lecturer, Govt. P.G College Rajouri, J&K, India

ABSTRACT
This paper focuses on the sustainable development of tourism in Uttarakhand. Uttarakhand is a state in the Northern Himalayan Region in India and it has been a hot spot of tourism due to its magnificently diverse landscapes, high biodiversity enough religious tourist potential and rich cultural heritage, which has also generated a good source of income and employment to youths and rural masses. Tourism is one of the biggest and fastest-growing economic sectors in the global economy and has significant environmental, cultural, social, and economic effects, both positive and negative. Tourism has been noted as the worlds largest and fastest growing industry. The main objectives of the study are the formation of tourist circuits, to find out the problems and suggest a suitable plan for sustainable tourism development in Uttarakhand. A field based systematic survey was carried out on the basis of questionnaire in some selected tourism destinations to find out the problems and the data has been calculated on the basis of simple percentage methods. Further the maps have drawn through GIS Arcview 3.1 for the better results. Sustainable tourism is one of the pre-requisites of achieving sustainable development in this region. This form of sustainable tourism, oriented toward the viability of tourism industry, is referred to as the economic sustainability of tourism or tourism imperative. In order to achieve this, the primary aim of tourism development requires physical resources to facilitate its expansion. Maintaining the quality of the environment, however, is usually also among the main goals of sustainable tourism. Sustainable tourism can be taken in four different interpretations that include economic sustainability of tourism, the ecologically sustainable tourism, sustainable tourism development with both focus of environment as well as long term feasibility of the industry and finally tourism as a part of a strategy for sustainable development. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to adopt integrated approach and establishment of new plans for the sustainable development of tourism in Uttarakhand. And finally to synthesis all the findings and give feasible suggestions and recommendations for further development of tourism in this region.

INTRODUCTION
Countries and regions where the economy is driven by the tourism industry have become increasingly concerned with the environmental, as well as the socio-cultural problems associated with unsustainable tourism. As a result, there is now increasing agreement on the need to promote sustainable tourism development to minimize its environmental impact and to maximize socio-economic overall benefits at tourist destinations. The concept of sustainable tourism, as developed by the World Tourism Organization (WTO) in the context of the United Nations sustainable development process, refers to tourist activities leading to management of all resources in such a way that economic, social and aesthetic needs can be fulfilled while maintaining cultural integrity, essential ecological processes, biological diversity and life support systems (see UN, 2001a). In Uttarakhand tourism is consider to be an important vehicle for economic and social development. The tourism industry has the potential to generate foreign exchange earnings, create employment, promote development in various parts of the Region, reduce income and employment disparities among regions, strengthen linkages among many sectors of the national as well as state economy and help to alleviate poverty. However, this standard view of the tourism industry does not give a complete picture of the potential contribution that tourism can provide for parts of country in general and other countries in particular. A more complete viewpoint can be provided by the concept of sustainable tourism development, because it can help policy-makers make more effective policies and plans designed to realize the full social and economic potential of the tourism industry. Sustainable tourism development is premised on the responsibility of governments and all stakeholders in the tourism sector to ensure that long-term prosperity and the quality of life of future generations is not placed at risk. (Mohanty, 1992). Sustainability principles refer to the environmental, economic, and socio-cultural aspects of tourism development, and a suitable balance must be established between these three dimensions to guarantee its long-term sustainability. Thus, sustainable tourism should: 1. Make optimal use of environmental resources that constitute a key element in tourism

Keywords
Sustainable development, tourism, environmental, integrated approach. cultural,

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2.

3.

development, maintaining essential ecological processes and helping to conserve natural heritage and biodiversity. Respect the socio-cultural authenticity of host communities, conserve their built and living cultural heritage and traditional values, and contribute to inter-cultural understanding and tolerance. Ensure viable, long-term economic operations, providing socio-economic benefits to all stakeholders that are fairly distributed, including stable employment and income-earning opportunities and social services to host communities, and contributing to poverty alleviation

OBJECTIVES
The present study has certain specific research objectives. They are as follows: 1. To contribute toward the Conservation of the Environment, Natural and Cultural Resources. 2. To assess the growth of tourism based on a Sustainable Market Position 3. The sustainable tourism should be developed on basis of community- means community based development and Pro-poor tourism concept. (PPT) 4. Environmental Sustainability

METHODOLOGY
The underlying idea of the Inskeep methodology is that of achieving sustainable development, which implies that natural, cultural and other resources of tourism are conserved for continuous use for the future, while bringing benefits for the local societies. The main focus of the methodology to achieve sustainable tourism development will be put on environmental planning approach. This approach involves a thorough survey and analysis of the environment to determine the most suitable types and locations of development. In vulnerable areas, like Meadows, forests, the environment is of significant importance during the planning process. The methodology is a basis and has been somewhat adjusted to this research, the original of In keep is more comprehensive. The developed methodology, illustrated in figure 1.1, is composed of a number of steps that lead to the final recommendations:

Sustainable tourism in its purest sense is an industry which attempts to make a low impact on the environment and local culture, while helping to generate income, employment, and the conservation of local ecosystems. It is responsible tourism that is both ecologically and culturally sensitive. In order to sustain tourism, it is necessary for countries to address various issues arising from tourisms contribution to development in a comprehensive, systematic way. Issues of policy-making, planning, management and the participation of the private sector and other stakeholders must be addressed in terms of opportunities for action and possible constraints that need to be overcome by concerted efforts.

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STUDY AREA
Uttarakhandthe Land of God (known as Uttaranchal from 2000 to 2006) is one of the most beautiful and enchanting states of northern India. Blessed with breathtaking natural beauty, rivers and many mountains, this state has been the heaven for people seeking solace in spirituality and a paradise for adventure lovers. Nestled in the Himalayas, Uttarakhand mainly depends upon its tourism industry that generates huge revenues for its economy. The location of Uttarakhand is between 3003N to 30 05N and7919E 7931E. Uttarakhand has a total geographic area of 51,125 km, of which 93% is mountainous and 64% is covered by forest. It has a population of about 6.0 million at 94.4 per sq. km. Most of the northern parts of the state are part of Greater Himalaya ranges, covered by the high Himalayan peaks and glaciers, while the lower foothills were densely forested till

denuded by the British log merchants and later, after independence, by forest contractors. There is no dearth of tourist hot-spots in Uttarakhand. For everyone, there is some place to visit whether you are interested in pilgrimage, spirituality and adventure sports or camping. The tourist places that are hit with visitors are Dehradun, Nainital, Almora, Uttarkashi, Chamoli, Rudraprayag, Haridwar and Tehri Garhwal. Uttarakhand borders Tibet to the north, Nepal to the east, and the states of Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh (of which it formed a part before 2000) in the west and south respectively. The region is traditionally referred to as Uttarakhand in Hindu scriptures and old literature, a term which derives from the Sanskrit for Northern Country or Section. In January 2007, the name of the state was officially changed from Uttaranchal, its interim name, to Uttarakhand, according to the wishes of a large section of its people. The provisional capital of Uttarakhand is Dehradun which is also a railhead and the largest city in the region.

Location Map of Uttarakhand

Fig 2

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Uttarakhand, one of Hinduism most spiritually auspicious pilgrimage circuits. Rishikesh near Haridwar is known as the preeminent yoga centre of India while the spectacular view from Hemkund is of special significance to Sikhs. Leisure, adventure, and religious tourism play a prominent role in Uttarakhand's economy, with the Corbett National Park and Tiger Reserve and the nearby hill-stations of Nainital, Mussoorie, Almora and Ranikhet being amongst the most frequented destinations of India. The state also contains numerous peaks of interest to mountaineers, although Nanda Devi, the highest and best-known of these, has been off-limits since 1982. Other national wonders include the Valley of Flowers, which along with Nanda Devi National Park form a UNESCO World Heritage Site. SOCIAL INDICATORS UTTARAKHAND OF TOURISM IN

Social indicators play an important role for the development of the tourism industry in a region. Although both the social as well as the environmental indicators are interdependent on each other, but in the modern concepts of tourism more emphasis given on the social indicators. Social indicators include place of living, health, longitivity nutrition, literacy, employment, education, people, transport, tourist services and more others. These modern days the environment influences less on people as compared to the human impacts on the environment. Man controls the environment wholly and solely and less impact of environment on man. It has been observed from the Table 1 that 1000 tourists have been interviewed, out of which 90 percent tourists feel that Uttarakhand is the best place to visit while 10 percent surveyed tourists feel average not too good not too bad.

Table 1:- Tourists opinion regarding various social indicators in percentage. Opinion regarding Excellent Average Below average Place Accommodation Food Transport Tourist service Security (Feel secure) Climate 90 52 24 12 52 70 80 10 25 39 29 33 25 15 00 23 37 59 15 05 05

Source: - Based on Field survey by Author 2007 Their concept regarding the accommodation also shows a great variation in the tourist concepts. 52 percent feel accommodation is good while 25 percent feel average and 37 percent below average. In general the given table shows that tourists visited Uttarakhand are not happy with the food transport. Mostly tourists like the climate and more than 50 percent surveyed tourists feel that tourist service is good in Uttarakhand. Use internationally approved and reviewed guidelines for training and certification Promote among clients an ethical and environmentally conscious behavior Diversify the products by developing a wide range of tourist activities Contribute some of the income generated to assist in training, ethical marketing and product development Provide financial incentives for businesses to adopt sustainability principles. 2. Ecological sustainability - development that is compatible with the maintenance of essential ecological processes, biological diversity and biological resources Codes of practice should be established for tourism at all levels Guidelines for tourism operations, impact assessment and monitoring of cumulative impacts should be established Formulate national, regional and local tourism policies and development strategies that are consistent with overall objectives of sustainable development

SUSTANABLE DEVELOPMENT CONCEPT

BY

FOUR

TOURISM PILLAR

The sustainable tourism development is actually based on four pillars, economic, ecological, cultural and community. Various guidelines have been given for development of each pillar. 1. Economic sustainability - that is profitable in both the immediate and long term Form partnerships throughout the entire supply chain from micro-sized local businesses to multinational organizations

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Institute baseline environmental impact assessment studies Ensure that the design, planning, development and operation of facilities incorporate sustainability principles Ensure tourism in protected areas, such as national parks, is incorporated into and subject to sound management plans Monitor and conduct research on the actual impacts of tourism Identify acceptable behavior among tourists Promote responsible tourism behavior 3. Cultural sustainability - increase people's control over their lives and is compatible with the culture and values of those affected and strengthen the community identity Tourism should be initiated with the help of broad based community input Education and training programs to improve and manage heritage and natural resources should be established Conserve cultural diversity Respect land and property rights of traditional inhabitants Guarantee the protection of nature, local and the indigenous cultures and especially traditional knowledge Work actively with indigenous leaders and minority groups to insure that indigenous cultures and communities are depicted accurately and with respect. Strengthen, nurture and encourage the community's ability to maintain and use traditional skills. Educate tourists about desirable and acceptable behavior Educate the tourism industry about desirable and acceptable behavior 4. Local or community sustainability - that is designed to benefit local communities and generate/retain income in those communities The community should maintain control over tourism development Tourism should provide quality employment to community residents. Encourage businesses to minimize negative effects on local communities and contribute positively to them Ensure an equitable distribution of financial benefits throughout the entire supply chain Provide financial incentives for local businesses to enter tourism Improve local human resource capacity.

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PRO-POOR TOURISM: A POVERTY REDUCTION STRATEGY IN UTTARAKHAND

While responsible ecotourism and other sustainable tourism strategies may bring significant socio-economic benefits to host communities, they are not necessarily

aimed at poverty alleviation. Given that the United Nations Millennium Declaration 6 has placed poverty at the centre of the international development agenda, it can be argued that sustainable tourism development should go beyond the promotion of broad socio-economic development and give greater priority to poverty reduction. This priority shift would also address a somewhat ignored recommendation of the seventh session of the Commission on Sustainable Development which, interalia, urged Governments to maximize the potential of tourism for eradicating poverty by developing appropriate strategies in cooperation with all major groups, and indigenous and local communities (see UN, 1999c). A pro-poor tourism (PPT) approach differs from ecotourism and other sustainable tourism strategies in that its overriding goal is to deliver net benefits to the poor. 7 While PPT and ecotourism may have some similar objectives, the key difference is that poverty reduction is the core focus of the PPT approach, rather than a secondary component of a mainly environmental sustainability strategy. In other words, although environmental protection remains an important PPT goal, the quality of the environment in which targeted poor groups live is only one part of a broader poverty reduction strategy. There are several reasons why tourism development could be a particularly effective tool of poverty reduction. Firstly, tourism offers considerable employment opportunities for unskilled labour, rural to urban migrants and lower-income women. Second, there are considerable linkages with the informal sector, which could generate positive multiplier effects to poorer groups that rely on that sector for their liveli- hoods. Third, tourism tends to be heavily based upon the preservation of natural capitalsuch as, wildlife and sceneryand cultural heritage, which are often assets that some of the poor have, even if they have no financial resources (Ashley et al., 2001:2). It is increasingly realized that promoting greater community participation in tourism development not only provides stronger incentives to conserve natural capital,8 but can also lead to a more equitable sharing of benefits and thus greater opportunities for poverty alleviation. But while ecotourism and PPT both aim to increase community participation in general, PPT also goes beyond this goal in that it includes specific mechanisms to enhance the participation of and opportunities for the poorer segments of society. Three key components of the PPT approach are: (a) improved access to the economic benefits of tourism by expanding employment and business opportunities for the poor and providing adequate training to enable them to maximize these opportunities; (b) measures to deal with the social and environmental impact of tourism development, particularly the abovementioned forms of social exploitation, as well as excessive pressure on natural resources, pollution generation and damage to ecosystems; and

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(c) policy reform, by enhancing participation of the poor in planning, development and management of tourism activities pertinent to them, removing some of the barriers for greater participation by the poor, and encouraging partnerships between government agencies or the private sector and poor people in developing new tourism goods and services.

more cautious approach to development to ensure that our children can enjoy a quality life. Sustainable tourism has identified how the tourism industry can contribute to overall sustainable development and continue to provide high quality, low impact experiences. Sustainable tourism is built around four pillars of tourism, economic sustainability, ecological sustainability, cultural sustainability and local sustainability. All four of these elements must be addressed if we are to achieve sustainable tourism. As somebody from a business school background, sustainability can be considered as a strategy, which moves it away from the abstract into the practical. Strategies are designed to move an organization or destination from a current less favoured position to a more favoured future position. In doing so, strategic decisions are based on vision, the identification of shared goals, and leadership.

RURAL SPACE AND VILLAGE TOURISM IN UTTARAKHAND

Auli: - It is located in chamoli district. Auli, 16 kms, from Joshimath. Joshimath 256 kms. From Rishikesh. The natural advantages of Auli's slopes coupled with state of the art facilities provided by us. The snow capped slopes of auli are flanked by stately coniferous and oak forests which cut wind velocity to the minimum. Auli offers a panoramic view of Himalayan peaks like the Nanda Devi (7817 mts.) Kamet (7756 mts.) Mana Parvat (7273 mts.) and Dunagiri (7066 mts.) seemingly only a snowballs throw away.4 Auli offers perfect skiing conditions. Seasonal skiers have clean stretches of absolutely virgin slopes to sport on. These slopes provide excellent opportunities for cross country, slalom and downhill skiing events. 2 A 500 mts. Long ski lift carries skiers back to the slope top, thus saving them the trouble and time to bridge up wearing long skis, apart from annual skiing festivals three official national championships have also been held here. Bina is located in the Almora tehsil of Almora district. This village is having diversifies cultural diversity. Having high Sex ratio 1159 (females per 1000 males). Soli is located in the Bhikia Sain tehsil of Almora district. Having 1333 sex ration (females per 1000 males) and Literacy rate is 75.57%. Kandey is located in the Almora tehsil of Almora district having Sex ratio 1319 (females per 1000 males) and literacy rate 55.92%. Joshi Gaon is located in the Bageshwar tehsil of Bageshwar district having literacy rate74.40% while sex ratio 917 (females per 1000 males). Kafali is located in the Bageshwar tehsil of Bageshwar district having sex ratio1476 (females per 1000 males) and literacy rate 64.28%. The total no. of households is 12 only. These characteristics make these villages a model to show out side World and having important tourism potentiality. Besides the concept of Community based cultural tourism should be developed. Establishment of Village Resorts which is another important tourist attraction. 5

REFERENCES AND NOTES

[1] Aggarwal, J. C., Agrawal, S. P., & Gupta, S. S. (Eds.). (1995). Uttarakhand: past, present, and future. New Delhi: Concept Pub. Co [2] Guha, R. (2000). The unquiet woods : ecological change and peasant resistance in the Himalaya (Expanded ed.). Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press [3] Mohanty, P. (1992): Hotel Industry and Tourism in India, Ashish Publishing House, 8/81, Punjabi Bagh, Delhi, p.43-45. [4] Kandari, O. P., & Gusain, O. P. (Eds.). (2001). Garhwal Himalaya: Nature, Culture & Society. Srinagar, Garhwal: Transmedia [5] Rawat, A. S. (1989). History of Garhwal, 1358-1947: an erstwhile kingdom in the Himalayas. New Delhi: Indus Pub. Co. [6] See A/RES/55/2, 18 September 2000. [7] The analysis here is based mainly on C. Ashley et al. (2001). [8] Recent empirical analysis of economic incentives for ecotourism in Ecuador shows, for example, that local income generation depends primarily on the level of local organization, as well as on the importance of the tourist attraction and the degree of tourism specialization available. See Wunder (2000)

CONCLUSION
This paper has introduced some of the key features behind sustainable tourism. Sustainable tourism concepts have grown out of the idea of sustainable development which was first identified about 15 years ago. The principles of sustainable development focus on taking a longer-term and

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