What Tourism Can Do: The Fall of Pastoral Manali Resort in the Kulu Valley of the Indian Himalayas

Abstract

Tourism is a queer paradox. It can be benign and malign, and at times it can conserve and consume resources, protect natural capital while damages heritage and so on. This dualism in tourism is not inherent or native to its character, but it is due to some policy failure, bad planning, ill governance, poor management of skills or want of new knowledge. This chapter shall illustrate the case of Manali in the Indian Himalayas which is now transformed from a rural pastoral settlement to an urban destination due to lack of sustainable pro-growth policy and tourism intelligence inaction. Efforts are being made for implementing sustainable tourism policy through ‘Explore Rural India Project’ that shall decongest Manali destination and diversify tourism activity all-through the Kulu Valley with Naggar as a satellite resort.