An analysis of tourist’s perceptions toward tourism development: Study of cold desert destination, India

Abstract

Tourism impacts on society are complex and mixed. However, they are vital to diverse societies, clusters, and individuals dependent upon their morals, attitudes, and resources existing for tourism development. Increasing tourism also brings many problems. Hence, tourist experience is fundamental for destination image and development. This research examines tourist perceptions and attitudes toward tourism impacts in Chitkul, Kalpa, and Nako in Kinnaur. Random sampling has been used to measure tourist responses on a range of indicators related to tourism development. Likert scale responses were analyzed using factor analysis, ANOVA, Mann-Whitney U-test, Kolmogorov test, and descriptive statistics. The results confirmed that tourists do not perceive any type of pollution or societal barriers. They observed that natural magnetism and the socio-cultural milieu of the destination is what attracts tourists. However, tourists are not satisfied with ‘networking services’, ‘organization efforts’, ‘supplementary conveniences’, and ‘carriage concerns’ at selected destinations in Kinnaur. Moreover, Chitkul emerged as the top tourist destination in Kinnaur. Since the destination would emerge as a hub of tourist activities shortly considering the congestion and exploitation of nearby tourist destinations at Kulu-Manali-Rohtang in Beas Valley. Hence, the assessment of tourist perceptions can be used as an indicator of tourism destination competitiveness and can assist in developing appropriate tourism policies and infrastructure upgrades.

Keywords

• Cold desert
• Kinnaur
• Tourist perceptions
• Factor analysis
• ANOVA
• Kolmogorov-Smirnov test