Assistant Professor of Geography, Vivekananda Global University, Jaipur, Rajasthan
JournalRVIMJ
Volume / Issue3 / 6
Pages29–39
Published05 Jun 2026
Paper IDRVIMJ36J26004
Views / Downloads7 / 0
Article summary
Abstract
Ecotourism has attracted considerable academic and policy attention as a mechanism
for reconciling biodiversity conservation with local economic development and
sustainable livelihoods in ecologically sensitive areas. This paper critically examines
the role of ecotourism in fostering local economic development and sustainable
livelihoods at Mount Abu, Rajasthan India’s only hill station and a notified wildlife
sanctuary within the ancient Aravalli Range. Drawing on an original synthesis of
Scopus-indexed secondary scholarship, government tourism statistics, ecological
assessments, and regional development reports, the study deploys three interlocking
theoretical frameworks: the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework (SLF), the Pro-Poor
Tourism (PPT) paradigm, and the Community-Based Ecotourism (CBET) model. The
analysis reveals that while ecotourism has generated measurable direct and indirect
economic benefits particularly through employment in accommodation, guiding, and
artisanal commerce structural asymmetries in benefit distribution, tourism revenue
leakages, weak governance frameworks, and accelerating ecological stress from mass
tourism inflows significantly constrain its developmental and sustainability potential.
Ecotourism’s contribution to natural capital regeneration and social capital formation
among indigenous Bhil and Garasia communities remains inconsistent and contingent
upon institutional quality. Integrating political ecology with sustainable tourism
theory, the study advances a critically grounded, site-specific policy framework for
strengthening ecotourism’s developmental impact at Mount Abu, with transferable
implications for ecotourism governance across South Asian montane destinations.
Kanhaiya Lal Gupta, Rohit Kumar, Puneet Yadav (2026). Role of Ecotourism in Local Economic Development
and Sustainable Livelihoods: A Case Study of Mount
Abu, Rajasthan. Research Vidyapith International Multidisciplinary Journal, 3(6), 29–39. https://doi.org/10.70650/rvimj.2026v3i6004
Kanhaiya Lal Gupta, Rohit Kumar, Puneet Yadav. “Role of Ecotourism in Local Economic Development
and Sustainable Livelihoods: A Case Study of Mount
Abu, Rajasthan.” Research Vidyapith International Multidisciplinary Journal, vol. 3, no. 6, 2026, pp. 29–39. https://doi.org/10.70650/rvimj.2026v3i6004
Kanhaiya Lal Gupta, Rohit Kumar, Puneet Yadav. “Role of Ecotourism in Local Economic Development
and Sustainable Livelihoods: A Case Study of Mount
Abu, Rajasthan.” Research Vidyapith International Multidisciplinary Journal 3, no. 6 (2026): 29–39. https://doi.org/10.70650/rvimj.2026v3i6004
Kanhaiya Lal Gupta, Rohit Kumar, Puneet Yadav (2026) ‘Role of Ecotourism in Local Economic Development
and Sustainable Livelihoods: A Case Study of Mount
Abu, Rajasthan’, Research Vidyapith International Multidisciplinary Journal, 3(6), pp. 29–39. Available at: https://doi.org/10.70650/rvimj.2026v3i6004.
Kanhaiya Lal Gupta, Rohit Kumar, Puneet Yadav, “Role of Ecotourism in Local Economic Development
and Sustainable Livelihoods: A Case Study of Mount
Abu, Rajasthan,” Research Vidyapith International Multidisciplinary Journal, vol. 3, no. 6, pp. 29–39, 2026. https://doi.org/10.70650/rvimj.2026v3i6004.
Kanhaiya Lal Gupta, Rohit Kumar, Puneet Yadav. Role of Ecotourism in Local Economic Development
and Sustainable Livelihoods: A Case Study of Mount
Abu, Rajasthan. Research Vidyapith International Multidisciplinary Journal. 2026;3(6):29–39. https://doi.org/10.70650/rvimj.2026v3i6004.
Kanhaiya Lal Gupta, Rohit Kumar, Puneet Yadav. Role of Ecotourism in Local Economic Development
and Sustainable Livelihoods: A Case Study of Mount
Abu, Rajasthan. Research Vidyapith International Multidisciplinary Journal 2026, 3 (6), 29–39. https://doi.org/10.70650/rvimj.2026v3i6004.
Data sharing is not applicable as no datasets were generated or analysed.
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All authors contributed to the conception, research, preparation, review and final approval of the manuscript
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