Tourism as an industry has been flourishing and growing since time immemorial. From the last few decades specific attention has been given to this smokeless industry. Tourism has emerged as an important as well as organized industry which scattered its benefits over large segments of the population. Kashmir Valley, known universally as the “Paradise on Earth” is one of such regions of India which offers variety of experiences to the tourists. There is a need to focus our attention to achieve the required prosperity, well-being and high quality of life for the people of the region by generating the income in the tourism sector. Tourism growth potential can be harnessed as a strategy for rural development. The development of a strong platform around the concept of rural tourism is definitely useful for a country like India, where almost 70% of the population resides in its villages. There is a need to find out the importance of rural tourism in sustainable development of the region and also to enhance rural tourism development in Kashmir Valley. Development of rural tourism and betterment of the society are closely associated with each other. Any form of tourism that showcases the rural life, art, culture and heritage at rural locations, thereby benefiting the local community economically and socially as well as enabling interaction between the tourists and the locals for a more enriching tourism experience can be termed as rural tourism. Rural tourism is essentially an activity which takes place in the countryside. It is multi-faceted and may entail farm/agricultural tourism, cultural tourism, nature tourism, adventure tourism, and eco-tourism. As against conventional tourism, rural tourism has certain typical characteristics like; it is experience oriented, the locations are sparsely populated, it is predominantly in natural environment, it meshes with seasonality and local events and is based on preservation of culture, heritage and traditions. Read the entire article here: https://www.dailyexcelsior.com/promoting-rural-tourism/?fbclid=IwAR0C10rHDzpbK3vznsXjVos7HwP2dHToolhss9_CBYOiUMRB3wiM2bVHeik
