Stakeholders Perception of Tourism Entrepreneurship: A Case Study of The Valley of Kashmir

Abstract

Tourism entrepreneurship has been known as the finest perspective to accredit the socio-economic progress of tourism destinations in various countries. Kashmir Valley is in its growth phase of tourism development and tourism entrepreneurship of different stakeholders is still under studied in the study area. By looking at diverse business activities that could be spawned by the development, their connection in business would contribute to a better economic return. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the perception of tourism entrepreneurship of different stakeholders in Valley of Kashmir. Based on self-administered questionnaire conducted on 312 prime stakeholders of tourism industry of Kashmir Valley in Jammu and Kashmir, the finding indicates that there is a significance difference between expectation and perception of different stakeholders regarding tourism entrepreneurship. Some of the stakeholders are previously involved in entrepreneurship activities; however their business survivability should be an apprehension as they countenance inadequate financial sources and support. The findings of the paper provide suitable conclusion on the needs to put into action various entrepreneurship related issues in Kashmir Valley. Valley of Kashmir possess exhilarative geographic and topographic features which espouse to magnetize all kinds of visitors in every season, such as pilgrimage, cultural, adventure, sport, educational and research, wonder lust and heritage tourism. Kashmir region is known for unique scenic attractions popularly known as “Paradise on Earth”. Having declared as one of the most beautiful regions of the world, this paper reveals the groundwork result on the need for a deeper assessment on stakeholders’ perception of tourism entrepreneurship in Valley of Kashmir.