Experiential design intervention to motivate tourist local interaction and connect with unexplored landscape—a case study of North Guwahati

Abstract

‘Place’ or ‘topos’, according to Aristotle, is the dimension in people’s relationship with the physical environment, conjuring up a feeling of belonging (Van de Ven in Space in Architecture. Van Goraum Assen, Amsterdam (1978) [1, J Environ Psychol 6:49–63 (1986) 2]) that creates a sense of attachment or belonging towards it. Place in late twentieth century began to capture the imagination of psychologist, researchers, economists and academicians, who iterated a place through the concept of tourism for sense of experience. Tourism in twenty-first century is increasing the possibility of making unexplored landscapes popular through connecting tourists to its cultural and physical identities by providing a getaway from the crowded city life. These travel to unconventional destinations deliver experience-oriented journeys and motivate visitors to expand their knowledge through participation based travel. With various push and pull motives, the traveller builds his own perception towards a destination. The motivations of travellers visiting Assam to discover lesser known place identities like historical indigenous community lifestyle and natural landscapes needs to have a systematic methodology for a robust study to create cultural pedagogy. The unknown destinations around North Guwahati, Assam are tapped under limited conditions despite its full potential of being converted into a major tourist spot and stimulate diversified experiences, with a view to increase interactions between locals and visitors. The prospects of engaging tourists with locals through interaction would act as a catalyst for local upliftment, creation of possible explorative circuit for tourist visit and create meaning.