160
L. Singh
have not resolved the social and environmental problems we face today (Buszard
and Kolb 2011).
Since the publication of the Brundtland Report and during the UN Decade on
Education for Sustainable Development, academic programs across the world have
endeavoured to prepare students for roles they will need to perform to ensure social
and environmental sustainability in their leisure and work, in their communities
and at home. Hence, sustainable development has close and direct connection with
leisure activities such as rural tourism, which was considered a mechanism to streamline the challenges of social divisiveness, economic disparities and environmental
degradation.
Sustainable development through leisure activities such as rural tourism therefore
refers to protecting the resources and building community capacity. Such type of
leisure activity aims to sustain the culture and character of host communities, landscape and habitats, rural economy, and the tourism industry, to make them viable
in the long term (Lane 2005). It is believed that rural tourism has a lot to provide
to sustainable development in a single package. This benefits the local community
while preserving rural assets, values and heritage. It includes rural area-based holidays, which include special interest nature holidays, ecotourism, fishing, educational
travel, arts and heritage tourism, and ethnic tourism. The tourists participate in the
creation of sales, profits, jobs, returns and income (Steenwagen 2003), and these
impacts of tourism are important factors in achieving sustainable development. The
rural tourism also facilitates the development of basic infrastructure facilities while
reducing out-migration in declining areas. It fosters a closer relationship between
leisure, rural tourism and sustainable development. This paradigm shift can result in
a balance between urban and rural spaces and increase the self-confidence of peasants by increasing the quality of manpower. Therefore, the implementation of such
type of tourism is necessary for improving sustainable development (Langroudi and
Hassan 2003).
3 Case of Jyotisar as a Rural Tourism Destination
The present study has been conducted in the rural tourism destination of Jyotisar,
located in the Kurukshetra district of Haryana state in India. The National Tourism
Policy of India (2002) gave impetus to rural tourism industry for the first time. Rural
tourism defines the tourism activities in rural destinations and is a strong platform
for a country like India, where almost three quarters of the population resides in rural
areas or villages. Rural tourism has the capacity to develop rural areas on par with
developed cities. Besides, there are other factors that are shifting the trend towards
rural tourism, such as increasing levels of awareness, growing interest in heritage
and culture, improved accessibility, and environmental consciousness. Realizing the
potential of rural tourism, 169 rural tourism sites were sanctioned by the Ministry
of Tourism in 2011 in 28 states/UTs of India. These rural tourism sites have brought
many accolades and laurels at the national as well as the international level. In recent
L. Singh
have not resolved the social and environmental problems we face today (Buszard
and Kolb 2011).
Since the publication of the Brundtland Report and during the UN Decade on
Education for Sustainable Development, academic programs across the world have
endeavoured to prepare students for roles they will need to perform to ensure social
and environmental sustainability in their leisure and work, in their communities
and at home. Hence, sustainable development has close and direct connection with
leisure activities such as rural tourism, which was considered a mechanism to streamline the challenges of social divisiveness, economic disparities and environmental
degradation.
Sustainable development through leisure activities such as rural tourism therefore
refers to protecting the resources and building community capacity. Such type of
leisure activity aims to sustain the culture and character of host communities, landscape and habitats, rural economy, and the tourism industry, to make them viable
in the long term (Lane 2005). It is believed that rural tourism has a lot to provide
to sustainable development in a single package. This benefits the local community
while preserving rural assets, values and heritage. It includes rural area-based holidays, which include special interest nature holidays, ecotourism, fishing, educational
travel, arts and heritage tourism, and ethnic tourism. The tourists participate in the
creation of sales, profits, jobs, returns and income (Steenwagen 2003), and these
impacts of tourism are important factors in achieving sustainable development. The
rural tourism also facilitates the development of basic infrastructure facilities while
reducing out-migration in declining areas. It fosters a closer relationship between
leisure, rural tourism and sustainable development. This paradigm shift can result in
a balance between urban and rural spaces and increase the self-confidence of peasants by increasing the quality of manpower. Therefore, the implementation of such
type of tourism is necessary for improving sustainable development (Langroudi and
Hassan 2003).
3 Case of Jyotisar as a Rural Tourism Destination
The present study has been conducted in the rural tourism destination of Jyotisar,
located in the Kurukshetra district of Haryana state in India. The National Tourism
Policy of India (2002) gave impetus to rural tourism industry for the first time. Rural
tourism defines the tourism activities in rural destinations and is a strong platform
for a country like India, where almost three quarters of the population resides in rural
areas or villages. Rural tourism has the capacity to develop rural areas on par with
developed cities. Besides, there are other factors that are shifting the trend towards
rural tourism, such as increasing levels of awareness, growing interest in heritage
and culture, improved accessibility, and environmental consciousness. Realizing the
potential of rural tourism, 169 rural tourism sites were sanctioned by the Ministry
of Tourism in 2011 in 28 states/UTs of India. These rural tourism sites have brought
many accolades and laurels at the national as well as the international level. In recent