Inclusive Tourism Adopted to Geosites: A Study in the Ajodhya Hills of West Bengal in India

Abstract

Inclusive tourism is a specialized branch of tourism emphasizing the inclusion of the disabled, who otherwise could not participate in tourism, despite having wealth to spend for leisure and recreation. There exists a research gap in analyzing scope of geotourism in this context. Disabilities affecting access to geosites affect geotourism since most of the geosites all over the world are situated in difficult terrain from the stand point of accessibility. It is inclusive tourism, also called accessible tourism, that facilities the consumers to reach the desired destinations. The present study assesses such destinations in Ajodhya hills, located in West Bengal, India, a geotourist’s paradise in terms of rarity and diversity, aesthetic appeal, and cultural value. The study derives an accessibility–attraction model to identify inclusive tourism planning priorities from tourism marketing perspectives. Extensive field work followed by the application of qualitative methods of data analysis yield results dedicated to sustainable geotourism development. The discussion reveals the scope of developing specific facilities, using GIS, which encourage physically challenged people to visit geosites and simultaneously fulfil the objective of guiding planners and policy makers to identify and develop more suitable sites for introducing inclusive tourism facilities.