Sustainable Rural Tourism in Himalayan Foothills

This book discusses thedevelopment of the rural tourism industry in the Himalayan region, specifically in theregion of Himachal Pradesh (HP),from the perspective of different stakeholders in the tourism industry. It examinesthe current status and trends of rural tourism in HP,discusses the challenges faced in response to the vulnerability of the Himalayas to global climate change, andevaluates the consequences of rural tourism on the socio-economic structure in HP to sustainablyformulate a framework for promoting financial and social inclusion. This framework coversflexible strategies for planning rural tourism development,assesses the role of technology in the tourism industry in achieving the objective of social and financial inclusion, and identifiesthe factors influencing a tourist's decision to undertake rural tourism and develop a hierarchical relationship among those factors. The book will be of interest to studentsand researchers ofsustainablerural tourism and tourism economics, as well as stakeholders from various sectors aiming to sustainably improve the ecologicaland economic fragility of the Himalayas due to climate change.