Religious Tourism and Sustainable
Development: Perspectives from Hill
States in India
Dhwani Gambhir, Ahmad Mohd Khalid, and Seema Sharma
1 Introduction: Sustainable Development, Tourism
and Religious Tourism
Sustainable development (SD) combines three pillars—economic, social and environmental aspects—to measure the development that can be sustained without
compromising needs of future generations (United Nations 1987). Any policy solution or framework needs to consider all three aspects in order to be truly beneficial for
the community. The UN has introduced Agenda 2030, with 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that have been formed with global consensus among experts
and policy think tanks. The attainment of the SDGs is crucial for developing countries such as India, with growing populations and limited resources. India’s overall
development agenda also largely encompasses the SDGs (Khalid et al. 2018).
Leisure promotes well-being and has a deep connection with the SDGs’ agenda,
as SDG 3 is concerned with health and well-being. Leisure includes tourism activities as well. Tourism is the fastest growing economic sector in the world, and a
great number of countries are promoting tourism through focused policy and agency
support (Banerjee 2015). According to UNEP (2007), mountain or hilly regions are
the second most popular tourists’ destinations after coasts and islands, contributing
to ~15–20% of annual global tourism. Tourism has a direct economic, social and
D. Gambhir
Eternal Light LLP, A 205/5, No. 2, Somdatt Chambers I, Bhikaji Cama Place, New Delhi 110066,
India
e-mail: dhwanigambhir@gmail.com
A. M. Khalid (B) · S. Sharma
Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Vishwakarma Bhavan,
Saheed Jeet Singh Marg, Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110016, India
e-mail: khalid.ahmadmohd@gmail.com
S. Sharma
e-mail: seemash@dms.iitd.ac.in
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer
Nature Switzerland AG 2021
A. Lubowiecki-Vikuk et al. (eds.), Handbook of Sustainable Development and Leisure
Services, World Sustainability Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-59820-4_18
273
Development: Perspectives from Hill
States in India
Dhwani Gambhir, Ahmad Mohd Khalid, and Seema Sharma
1 Introduction: Sustainable Development, Tourism
and Religious Tourism
Sustainable development (SD) combines three pillars—economic, social and environmental aspects—to measure the development that can be sustained without
compromising needs of future generations (United Nations 1987). Any policy solution or framework needs to consider all three aspects in order to be truly beneficial for
the community. The UN has introduced Agenda 2030, with 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that have been formed with global consensus among experts
and policy think tanks. The attainment of the SDGs is crucial for developing countries such as India, with growing populations and limited resources. India’s overall
development agenda also largely encompasses the SDGs (Khalid et al. 2018).
Leisure promotes well-being and has a deep connection with the SDGs’ agenda,
as SDG 3 is concerned with health and well-being. Leisure includes tourism activities as well. Tourism is the fastest growing economic sector in the world, and a
great number of countries are promoting tourism through focused policy and agency
support (Banerjee 2015). According to UNEP (2007), mountain or hilly regions are
the second most popular tourists’ destinations after coasts and islands, contributing
to ~15–20% of annual global tourism. Tourism has a direct economic, social and
D. Gambhir
Eternal Light LLP, A 205/5, No. 2, Somdatt Chambers I, Bhikaji Cama Place, New Delhi 110066,
India
e-mail: dhwanigambhir@gmail.com
A. M. Khalid (B) · S. Sharma
Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Vishwakarma Bhavan,
Saheed Jeet Singh Marg, Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110016, India
e-mail: khalid.ahmadmohd@gmail.com
S. Sharma
e-mail: seemash@dms.iitd.ac.in
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer
Nature Switzerland AG 2021
A. Lubowiecki-Vikuk et al. (eds.), Handbook of Sustainable Development and Leisure
Services, World Sustainability Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-59820-4_18
273