TRACING ECOTOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN BIHAR: POLICY INITIATIVES AND SUSTAINABLE PATHWAYS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.69980/q3d53x87Keywords:
Tourism Development, Eco-Tourism, Tourism management, Performance evaluation, Ministry of TourismAbstract
Purpose: Ecotourism, a form of sustainable tourism, focuses on nature conservation, preservation, and responsible travel practices. Recently, the Indian Ministry of Tourism has undertaken several initiatives to promote sustainable tourism through thematic projects across different states, with ecotourism being a key focus area. While existing literature addresses both general practices and destination-specific perspectives, there remains considerable scope for further exploration. The present study aims to examine ecotourism development in India with a specific focus on Bihar.
Methodology: The study adopts a systematic review approach using the PRISMA framework. A total of 13,456 studies were initially identified from the SCOPUS database, which were filtered to 3,283 studies based on subject area and language, and further refined to 48 studies for detailed analysis. The study reviews government initiatives promoting sustainable tourism, maps ecotourism-related research across Indian destinations, and examines ecotourism development in Bihar.
Findings: The findings indicate that ecotourism development in India remains uneven across regions, with limited scholarly and institutional focus on emerging destinations such as Bihar.
Implications: The study provides practical insights for policymakers and tourism stakeholders by emphasizing the need for improved implementation, monitoring mechanisms, and destination-specific planning. The results also highlight a gap between policy formulation and on-ground implementation, particularly in emerging regions
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