Rural Tourism: A Consumer Perspective

Author: Rais, Mohd Irfan & Khan, Mohd Altaf

Abstract:
India is home to several tourist destinations from North to South and East to West. With Himalayas in the north to beautiful and stunning beaches in the south and famous Goa in the west to beautiful north east, India has many tourist spots attracting tourists from all over the world. India is blessed with pilgrimage, historical as well as natural tourist spots. The foot fall of tourists have been increasing every year making the already famous tourist spots very congested. Urban tourism has reached its full potential and is overcrowded. The tourists are now looking for exciting alternatives away from the stress of crowded cities where they can relax, experience the nature, learn history and heritage, understand production systems and get access to fresh farm food. Rural tourism offers such experience to tourists who want to spend quality time away from the cities. Rural tourism provides consumer free access to natural environment. Rural tourism may comprise components like rural territory, rural heritage, rural life and rural activities. Each of these components has their sub components. Rural tourism is still in nascent stage in India. Rural tourism can prove to be a potential source of economic growth, if developed through proper planning and strategies. Planning requires research based solutions of both demand and supply side factors. To fulfill this objective, this study is carried out among tourists to know their preferences towards rural tourism. Although a number of research on rural tourism have been conducted in the past, no literature on demand side determinants is now available. The present study intends to identify the factors that attract the tourists towards rural tourism. The data for this study was gathered through a standardised questionnaire sent via email and personal interviews. A sample size of 100 has been taken for the study using convenience sampling technique. Four components of rural tou

Keywords:Indian Tourism, Rural Tourism, Demand, Consumer Preferences

DOI:

International Journal of Trade & Commerce (Vol: 11 Issue:1)