MANAGEMENT OF INDIGENOUS RESOURCES FOR PROMOTION OF INDIGENOUS TOURISM: A STUDY OF SELECTED TRIBAL DISTRICTS OF MADHYA PRADESH

This research article aims to explore indigenous tourism and people, which is a hidden tourist treasure that can be showcased to the outer world for future research gaps. This study is an attempt to reflect the problems, concepts, scope, Government tourism policies, objectives, hypothesis research design, and limitations in the first chapter, followed by an extensive review of the literature to understand the impacts of indigenous tourism on indigenous community, perspectives of the indigenous community of promotion of indigenous tourism, management of indigenous resources, and tourist demands. Data was collected from the tourist respondents who are the direct beneficiaries of indigenous tourism at Balaghat, Mandla, and Dindori districts. In this backdrop, the study aims to portray the trend of results for making Indigenous tourism a viable business option by branding and positioning the study area in the international tourist map. Two questionnaires, one for tourists and another for the indigenous community, were made. The analysis of tourist data is in three parts. The first part is related to the demographic profile of tourists. The second part includes travel-related information, and the third part includes tourist activity. The analysis of community data is in three parts. The first part is related to the demographic profile of the community. The second part includes the impact of indigenous tourism on the community, and the third part includes perspectives of indigenous communities on indigenous tourism promotion. The findings reflect the socio-demographic profile of the members of the community. The tourist questionnaire yielded valuable insights with respect to travel information, preferences and behaviour, as well as activities undertaken by the tourists. The underlying factors influencing the impact of tourism on the community were found to be 1) Creation of Human Resources, 2) Social Incapacity, 3) Conservation Focus, 4) Community Awareness and Participation, 5) Promotion of Local Products, and 6) Infrastructure Improvement. Suggestions have been put forward in connection to developing a better understanding of the target customer, and the tourist market in general; recreation and accommodation options; further research, promotion programs, branding; and greater focus in the making of tourism policy.