Potential and Challenges of Rural Tourism in Punjab

Abstract

Real India lives in villages. Almost 74% of the population lives in its 7 million villages. Rural areas are an integral part of the modern tourist experience. The recognition of rural tourism as an alternative to mainstream is a recent concept. The basic concept of rural tourism was envisaged with benefit accruing to local community through entrepreneurial opportunities, income generation, employment opportunities, conservation and development of rural arts and crafts, investment for infrastructure development and preservation of the environment and heritage. There is a large potential market for rural tourism especially for foreign tourists that need to be tapped strategically. Besides, there is a huge domestic tourism market with an estimated 240 million tourists. The World Tourism Organization notes that there is a clear trend in the growth of rural tourism. The World Travel and Tourism Council has rated India as one of the six fastest growing tourism economies in the World. Rural tourism is vital for sustainable rural development that exploits resources in rural areas and generates benefits to rural areas. Against this backdrop the present paper focuses on potential and strategies of rural tourism in Punjab for sustainable development.