Prospects and Challenges of Sustainable Tourism in Haryana: A Socio-Economic Study

This paper discusses status, prospects, and challenges of sustainable tourism in Haryana. The natural beauties, temples, nationally protected monuments modern cities etc. draw tourists to this state. Haryana is well-known for handloom and handicraft products. It has a range of holy places of worship- gurudwaras, churches, mosques, and temples. Faridabad, Gurugram and Panchkula districts are popular among the tourist. Tourism sector share nearly 2.7 percent GDP of the state. It has been observed that there is a bright prospect of religious tourism, adventure tourism, heritage tourism, rural tourism, event tourism, and eco-tourism in the state. Still there are many challenges before its tourism sector. The prominent challenges are poor connectivity, abysmal infrastructure, lack of media coverage and lack of alternative means of transport. Therefore, Government should implement policies for mitigating such challenges and improve tourism industry in the state.