Meghalaya tourism: A study on women’s attitudes and perceptions towards the cultural exposure and interaction in the context of Meghalaya tourism

Abstract

In a matriarchal society like Meghalaya where women are given high value of importance and independence it is seen that their involvement and exposure to work in various spheres is increasing over the years. The matriarchal way of thinking and upbringing has made the women in Meghalaya to inherit a confident, amiable and open-minded persona, which makes them more likely to interact effortlessly with people. There is very less research done on women in a matriarchal society in the field of tourism. There is need to understand and interpret their behavioural patterns and extent of willingness to share their culture with the tourists. Data Collection on 120 indigenous men and women of Meghalaya was done to find out their views on the context of Meghalaya Tourism and the extent of how culture is shared as well as how the level of interaction between the natives and tourists is achieved through tourism was done. The Results showed that the women natives of Meghalaya have a positive approach to interact and share their culture with the tourists but have no platform to do so. This shows that there is a need to design an interactive platform where culture which is the essence of a place can be shared to the tourists and provide them with a fulfilling and excellent authentic experience that they can carry when they leave the place.