SUSTAINABLE TOURISM AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF WEST KAMENG DISTRICT IN ARUNACHAL PRADESH; A SPECIAL REFERENCE TO SHERGAON VILLAGE
Sustainable tourism is a new concept of development that thrives to conserve and sustain the natural, social, cultural, and built environment by involving the local community. The north-eastern part of India has a plethora of tourist attractions, due to the natural resources. Arunachal Pradesh “the land of dawn-lit mountains” lays in eastern Himalayas is home to around 26 major tribes and over 110 sub-tribes, has natural beauty, fresh air with extensive geographical diversity and climatic conditions having a variety of wildlife, flora, and fauna with rich ethnic and cultural diversity. The destination of tourist in Arunachal Pradesh has been divided into twelve divisions of the circuit. There are approximately 3649 tribal villages present in the state, many of which are not explore but now opened their gate for the tourists to experience the wonders. One of the unique features of the tribal people of Arunachal Pradesh is their close relationship with nature which is imbibed in the cultural beliefs and their indigenous traditional knowledge of conservation the nature. Shergaon village of West Kameng district in Arunachal Pradesh is one of the famous tourist spot for its unique location. The concept of sustainable tourism contains three important pillars which are economy, environment, and culture or social issue. The tourism industry can play a vital role in the State. As this sector is a labour-intensive industry, it can open an employment opportunity. A large number of unemployed persons can be employed by this industry. The main objectives of this paper are to find out Sustainable tourism and economic development of Shergaon village of West Kameng district. To analysis the relationship between sustainable tourism and socio-economic development, data have been collected through secondary and primary sources.
Keywords: Sustainable Tourism, Traditional knowledge, Environment, Shergaon village, Economic development, Gompa.
