ECOTOURISM IN MAHARASHTRA PLANNING, MANAGEMENT AND SUSTENANCE

Tourism is one of the emerging sectors in the world. It has several types and facets. Ecotourism is an important type of sustainable tourism. Ecotourism is one of the disciplines of Sustainable tourism. This book enfolds the ecotourism potential Nashik District in Maharashtra. Ecotourism is explained extensively at International level. However no such attempts have been extended in India. This is the initial maiden effort made in Nashik District. Though in India several tourist places are providing potential resources to develop that site in Ecotourism. Nashik District has a huge potential owing to several places are endowed with the resources useful for ecotourism sites. The available literature is cited to get the methods for study of ecotourism in Maharashtra State. Semi structured interviews and questionnaires are used to get the responses from the stakeholders of the tourism sites. The factors like accommodation, food quality, drinking water facility, guide facility, availability of information of the site, etc. are analysed with the help of statistical tools used in tourism studies. Nashik District in Maharashtra have several places which could be developed as good ecotourism destinations. The potential tourism sites like Nandurmadhameshwar Wildlife Sanctuary, Brahmagiri Hills of Trimbakeshwar and Salher Fort are studied. These sites bear significant potential peculiarities. The Nandurmadhameshwar is the famous bird watching site having good ecological surroundings. Congregations of thousands of native and migratory birds are viewed here in the winter season. The domestic and international tourists get attracted to sites for bird watching and enjoying the beauty of nature. Trimbakeshwar is one of the twelve Jyotirlingas in In India. Hence thousands of pilgrims visits this site every day. Along with the religious significance, this site is also rich in natural resources useful for ecotourism. The third site selected for case study is the highest fort in Western Ghats having great historical significance known as Salher Fort. It is a pure natural area rich in vegetation and wildlife. Tribal population is observed around this fort. The tribal people have their own way of life. All these sites are different in their properties, significance and characteristics. After detailed study of the sites some recommendations are given at the end of the book. These recommendations may be useful for the policymakers for the development of the region. Hope this book will also be useful for the researchers and students for tourism studies.