Tourism in Himachal Pradesh a geographical perspective

Abstract

Tourism in Himachal Pradesh is described as a strong pillar of economic prosperity in the state. In 1984, tourism has declared an industry in the state. The total tourist arrival in the state in 2016 was 1.8 crore, which was almost double the population of the state and appropriately shows its status as a popular tourist destination. The present study is not only an attempt to fill the research lacuna pertaining to the geography of tourism in the state but also strengthens the tourism geography research by focusing on: the spatial organization of tourism activities; spatial arrangements of tourist destinations in terms of identification of destination clustering and hot spots; tourists flows and intensity; the existence of tourism seasonality in the state; index of tourism intensity and policy framework adopted by the government to develop tourism in the state of Himachal Pradesh. The findings of the research study may thus provide a spatial perspective of tourism activities in the state rather than a mere economic perspective, which may help the policymakers, particularly with reference to the decentralization of tourism activities and divert them to other new destinations so that the ecological pressure on resources could be minimized. newline