TOURISM SUSTAINABILITY THROUGH RURAL TOURISM: A POTENTIAL OF RURAL TOURISM IN INDIA WITH SPECIAL EMPHASIS TO JAMMU AND KASHMIR UNION TERRITORY

Abstract

The primary goal of this work is to know the scope of rural tourism development in India with special emphasis on Jammu and Kashmir.  In order to show the scope and status of rural tourism development, Purposive sampling is employed in which available data regarding rural tourism projects and their status with special emphasis on India and Jammu and Kashmir Union Territory are referred. Findings reveals that there are 172 identified rural tourism spots in India by ministry of tourism, GoI with Jammu and Kashmir has highest no. of rural tourism sites i.e., 25 followed by Sikkim (11), Uttarakhand (11) and Tripura (10) whereas Haryana and Bihar have lowest no. of rural tourism sites having 1 each. Also, among these identified rural tourism sites 52 sites are commissioned rural tourism sites along with these two villages named Pochampalli (A.P) known for its silk sarees and Dhordo (Gujarat) known for rich culture and banni hospitality are listed in UNWTO’s Best tourism village initiative in 2021 and 2023 respectively. Also ,107 projects have been proposed for rural tourism development, out of which 41 are successful, 33 are moderate successful and 33 are unsuccessful.  For Jammu and Kashmir, there are 8 proposed rural tourism projects among which 7 are successful sites while 1 is average with ranking 1 in terms of highest successful rural tourism projects in India, giving a great opportunity for the further development of rural tourism in J&K.