Uttarakhand Tourism : A Swot Analysis

Uttarakhand is a land which is bestowed with natural grandeur at its best - picturesque locations, snow capped mountains, lush green valleys, a cool climate and hospitable people. It is indeed the very lap of nature. It is therefore a fact that Uttarakhand has immense tourism potential; a potential that it must leverage and sustain. Tourism has its benefits which Uttarakhand must cash on without getting affected by its shortcomings. To leverage on this tourism potential, it is necessary for Uttarakhand not only to sell itself but also analyse the needs, the perceptions, the preferences, the satisfaction of the customers that it can provide. Hence the study aims to analyse these very tourist responses with the help of a questionnaire. The study revealed that although Uttarakhand has unique natural offerings it is not able to cash upon them due to lack of various facilities. Most of tourists’ expectations were met with but they depended on the presence of good necessities like amenities, food , water and proper infrastructural facilities like accommodation, transport, accessibility, etc which were found lacking in certain cases. A majority of the respondents believed that they would come again based on the fact that the natural beauty of Uttarakhand draws them towards it but provided it develops the necessary facilities which may be lacking currently. The tourists believed that Uttarakhand does have the potential of becoming one of the world’s top tourist destinations, if it can overcome its deficiencies and market itself well so as to position itself uniquely in the minds of tourists. It was therefore suggested that Uttarakhand must develop its infrastructural facilities and promote its offerings in a sustainable manner. It must explore newer avenues in relation with nature and open up its unexplored areas