The Godavari Urban Development Authority (GUDA), encompassing pilgrimage centres, backwaters, mangroves, and port-based urban landscapes, represents one of India's most diverse yet under-recognised deltaic tourism regions. Despite its cultural and ecological significance, tourism development across the region remains fragmented, uneven, and increasingly constrained by environmental and governance challenges. This study presents an integrated assessment of GUDA's tourism system using a combination of established analytical frameworks, including Butler's Tourism Area Life Cycle (TALC), Doxey's Irridex, Limits of Acceptable Change (LAC), Visitor Experience and Resource Protection (VERP), and the UNWTO Measuring the Sustainability of Tourism (MST) framework. Secondary data from tourism statistics, planning documents, and spatial datasets were combined with field-based observations to evaluate cluster evolution, carrying-capacity thresholds, resident attitudes, and sustainability performance.The results indicate that GUDA's tourism clusters occupy distinct evolutionary stages, with Rajamahendravaram in consolidation, Konaseema in exploration, and Coringa Hope Island in early involvement. Carrying-capacity analysis reveals that ecological and social thresholds are already under pressure in pilgrimage, backwater, and mangrove environments, while Irridex outcomes highlight rising resident fatigue during high-density events such as the Godavari Pushkaram. The MST dashboard identifies governance, inclusivity, waste management, and accessibility as the most critical gaps, despite tourism-related employment approaching benchmark levels. The study proposes a cluster-specific, climate-resilient, and community-centred tourism roadmap, including community-based initiatives such as a Homestay-500 model for Konaseema, strengthened institutional arrangements, and digital monitoring mechanisms. The findings offer policy-relevant insights for sustainable tourism planning in GUDA and provide transferable lessons for other vulnerable deltaic regions across South Asia.
Chowdary et al. (Sat,) studied this question.