Exploring the potential for development of geotourism in Rarh Bengal, Eastern India using M-GAM

Abstract

The Rarh Bengal of India has huge potential for development of geotourism due to its diverse landscape consisting of hills, dome shaped inselberges, tors, dams, badlands, springs, waterfall, ravines etc. The combination of vast dense forest and diverse flora and fauna with various geomorphic features has created a prosperous and complex geodiversity in the Rarh region. However, the potential of geotourism in the region has not yet fully developed. The main objective of this study is to emphasize the potential for geotourism in the Rarh region of West Bengal and to determine the existing status and geotourism prospective of geosites in this region. In this paper, the authors have proposed an inventory of geosites in the Rarh region and analyzed the vast potential of geotourism among them. A comparative analysis of the selected sites has been carried out by applying the Modified Geosite Assessment Model (M-GAM), which has exposed the most suitable geosites for the development of future geotourism. The M-GAM provided the significant assessment of both Main Values and Additional Values of the sites according to the status of each sub-indicator in the valuation model assumed by tourists. The results of this study reveal information about the major aspects of the development of each geosites and identify which sites need more attention and better management in future, so that the region becomes much attractive to larger number of tourists and becomes a well-known geotourism destination.

Keywords

• Rarh Bengal
• Geotourism
• Geosites
• Potential
• Modified Geosite assessment model