Assessment of rural destination residents' attitude toward tourism development in Uttarakhand, India: a research note

As an important component of tourism, the host community has been given increasing research attention to its role in tourism development. A supportive host environment is prerequisite in order to sustain the long-term and successful development of the tourism industry. Within the considerable body of knowledge, host community attitudes towards tourism have been extensively studied with the help of the costs and benefits of tourism perceived by community members. The impacts of tourism are exhibited in a wide range from the change of economic structure to social, cultural and environmental issues. The present study is an attempt to analyse the attitude of the community members towards tourism development in the Ukhimath, Sari and Makkumath villages in Rudraprayag District of Uttarakhand. The study area, due to its high altitudinal geography, healthy climate and enchanting scenic beauty is ideal for small scale community based tourism development. Since tourism in the area is in its nascent stage, it is quite important to ensure the sustainable development of tourism for which understanding of residents’ attitude is very essential. To assess the attitude of the residents of identified villages, field surveys have been conducted in the study villages during March, May and October, 2011. Personal observations and unstructured interviews were used as the survey tools.