Sustainable Tourism Development in Darjeeling Hills of West Bengal, India: Issues & Challenges

Abstract

At present tourism has been seriously considered in the national sustainable development strategies of many developing countries and placed on the agenda of many international conferences on Sustainable Development/ Tourism in a broader sense has existed for a long time in this Hill region of Darjeeling in West Bengal. The tourism activities are still in its conventional state, not put in the track of modern concept though efforts are being made to give it the real shape under eco-tourism but no avail. Sustainable tourism development provides the opportunity to take proactive approaches based on broad participation by stakeholders, which would contribute to more effective policies and plans. Based on secondary sources, literature search and discussions with key stake holders and interaction with the tourist, the existing tourists' scenario and situation were studied. The information collected from different sources has been verified with the field experience. Darjeeling receives around 3.5 lakhs domestic tourists annually, besides 50,000 foreigners.