Sustainable Tourism Development: Social Value or Social Hazard? An Abstract

Sustainable Tourism heralds an inclusive approach to tourism by involving local communities in wealth creation. Past research on the benefits of sustainable tourism is splintered into two different streams with some suggesting that sustainable tourism provides significant social and economic benefits to the local people (Torres 2003; Goodwin 2009) by providing additional income through selling goods and services to the tourists and creating job opportunities to work in the hotels and restaurants that tourists’ patronage. However, others warn that growth in tourism and development of protected areas burdens local communities (Jensen 2010), conflicts with indigenous use of forest resources (Machlis and Tichnell 1987) and in general widens income inequality. This paper examines the perceptions of a much neglected stakeholder in this dialogue, the views of local people towards conservation and tourism development that directly affects them. In so doing, we contribute to the literature on sustainable tourism in three ways. First, we capture the indigenous people’s opinions and attitudes towards tourism. Second, we identify a missed opportunity in excluding local businesses in tourism development. Finally, the study offers an inclusive approach towards sustainable tourism development in an emerging economy. The paper chooses a context which is one of the most popular tourist destination in India. Jim Corbett national park is visited by more than 2.5 million people every year from across the world, despite being closed for visitors between June and October, due to heavy rains. The findings of the paper can be related to similar contexts in other parts of the world, such as in developing countries and in particular where tiger reserves are established as tourist spots. We hope our research paves the way for a critical examination of the way sustainable tourism development is planned and executed. Our analysis identified community participation as a necessary precondition for the sustainable development of a tourist destination. The paper exemplifies that just inclusion of people from nearby areas, including local villages, among the key development stakeholders is not enough for ensuring community participation. It is clear from the interviews that the community is not benefited enough with the management decisions and actions. Local communities are neither consulted during the planning process nor are their businesses promoted through infrastructure development. Tourism development should have provided them a complementary opportunity to indulge in economic activity. Ironically, they are even deprived of their traditional economic activities for which they were dependent on natural resources of the forest.