Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the perspectives of local stakeholders on the role of religious tourism and the development process that alter the sacred space and religious heritage of Varanasi. Specific objectives include study local stakeholders' view on the motivation of visitors, the image of the city they carry home, role of infrastructure development altering sacredness of the city, major issues pertaining to conservation of the city's religious heritage and whether tourism dominates the sacred space of the city. Design/methodology/approach The present study follows the philosophical approach of constructionism and is an inductive study based on the ontological features of realism. The study is conducted using qualitative research design. Participants were purposely selected from different groups to provide representative data. through in-depth interviews with a set of 22 open-ended questions. Findings The study acknowledged the spatial changes happening in an old city over time. The portrayed image of Varanasi remains deeply rooted in the minds of pilgrims, whereas the tourist perspective often goes beyond the texts as an experience. The reflection of local stakeholders in the transformation of sacred space to tourist experiencescape as a consumable experience, which is influenced by market-driven forces is a major finding of the study. Research limitations/implications Difficulties in finalising the respondents and building up the theoretical base, which is one of the main limitations of the study. During the process of data collection, the respondents mainly focussed upon the impacts of tourism on Varanasi, and the researchers made every effort to extract qualitative information on the current research. At times, some respondents hesitated to share their view on political influences in the development process, which restricted the authors to obtain righteous information, that could have contributed a better understanding of the deep-rooted issues of religious heritage conservation. Another limitation is that the perspectives of visitors have not been included in this research. Practical implications The study will contribute to the theoretical areas of tourism development in historic and sacred cities. As an interdisciplinary area, the selected theme of the study delves in to landscape planning, heritage preservation, tourism development in historic cities and more importantly how residents understand the changes happening in a scared environment. The present research opens opportunities for further researches such as social pressures and tourism development, urban morphology and its transformation in ancient cities and so on. Social implications Varanasi is an ancient city in India, which is also the heartland of Hinduism. The study reveals the understanding of respondents on religious traditions, sentiments and the social values attached to a place. At the same time, it also highlights the role of tourism in generating an intercultural dialogue with local cultures, appreciating the sacred value of sites associated with religious sentiments. Originality/value The study addresses the role of tourism in altering the landscape of ancient city of Varanasi. The original view of respondents has been used in the article to maintain originality. There are several researches conducted on Varanasi, but the present study is conducted in a systematic way to gather the real understanding of local people. The study acknowledges the changes happening in the city along the course of time.
Tourism is considered as an important industry in the state of Jammu and Kashmir in general and the Valley of Kashmir in particular. Though the State’s economy is largely depended on agriculture and horticulture, tourism is still considered as the backbone of the economy as it generates large scale employment opportunities. The industry has generated large number of jobs; particularly it has benefitted the younger generation. Boosting the economic activities in the primary, secondary and tertiary sectors in the state, tourism has continued to play a vital role in the economy of the state. The Valley of Kashmir witnesses a huge rush of tourists especially during peak seasons and every corner of Srinagar city is filled with high movement of tourists. The movement of tourists has largely been restricted to Golden Triangle of Kashmir i.e. Srinagar, Phalgam and Gulmarg. The Government has started earmarking other virgin destinations of Kashmir and established authorities for the development of the same, but on the ground level the scene is quite different. It is imperative to assess the carrying capacity of tourist attractions especially new and emerging destinations, in order to minimize the negative impacts of tourism. Keeping in view these considerations, the present work is an attempt to highlight the tourism potential of unexplored areas in Ganderbal District, which have immense potential for ecotourism development.
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