India's Domestic Tourism: Chaos / Crisis / Challenge?

Abstract

Tourism occurs within a system. While contemporary models of the tourism system are useful in understanding the dynamics of international tourism, it is found that these models fall short of explaining the system of conventional tourism in India. This paper explores the conventional system of vernacular tourism with the purpose of establishing the contextual nature of these practices. This examination assists in asserting that a value-based context is an indispensable factor in the sustainable development of tourism in India. In conclusion, it is asserted that India's domestic tourism is currently in a state of chaos, perpetuated by the imposition of modern tourism on pre-modern vernacular tourism that has the potential of developing into a crisis. The article ends with a plea for the formulation of an appropriate policy for domestic tourism, befitting the sustainable development paradigm.

Keywords:

• Domestic tourism
• India
• tourism system
• sustainability
• policy