No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

The common perceptions about tourist destinations often hold even in the absence of facts and evidences. This research is an attempt to analyze the ground behind generic perceptions about tourism attractiveness of Kashmir valley. This has been done through primary survey of most important stakeholders; the visiting tourists. The data collected from 370 tourists has been used to deconstruct tourism attractiveness into different parameters and an Index of Destination Attractiveness has been prepared to understand the importance of each parameter to overall attractiveness. The evidences support the common perception that natural attractions play very important role in tourism attractiveness of valley but valley lacks other tourism motivators and falls short on most of the hygiene factors. These findings can be used to increase the attractiveness of valley by working on weak areas and the Index developed for the study can be used as a standard tool for continuous monitoring of attractiveness.

This research study is conducted in the Kashmir Valley, which is rated heavenly for its natural beauty. However, it is also perceived as risky by the outsiders since 1989. Earlier, it was a very popular destination for tourists and for shooting of films. Kashmir still gets good number of tourists, but the puzzle of impact of perceived risks on their behaviour still remains blurred. This research study is an attempt to understand the behaviour of tourists visiting Kashmir in terms of satisfaction from tour and future travel-related intentions as an outcome of perceived risk. Tourist satisfaction as mediator and demographic variables as moderator are carried out to gain insight into the behaviour of these tourists. The results of the study show that tourist satisfaction and future travel intentions of tourists in the Kashmir Valley are not impacted by their perception of risks. The results are a valuable input for DMOs that suggests that risks at the destination cannot be taken as the default barrier to the promotion of tourism. The necessary supply-side interventions at the destination to mitigate identified perceived risks by tourists and tourism relationship strategies at the demand side to address tour satisfaction can reflect in rewarding future travel intentions like revisits and recommendations.