Chapter IV- Environment Analysis and Destination Development in Sikkim Chapter- IV Environment Analysis and Destination Development in Sikkim 4.1 The Relationship between Tourism and Environment 4.2 Destination Environment and Sikkim 4.3 Destination Environmental Analysis and Change 4.4 Tourism Development Initiatives and Environmental Perspectives 4.5 Importance of Environment Analysis and Its Future Implications 4.6 Conclusion Page 100
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Chapter IV- Environment Analysis and Destination Development in Sikkim
Chapter- IV Environment Analysis and Destination Development in Sikkim
4.1 The Relationship between Tourism and Environment
4.2 Destination Environment and Sikkim
4.3 Destination Environmental Analysis and Change
4.4 Tourism Development Initiatives and Environmental Perspectives
4.5 Importance of Environment Analysis and Its Future Implications
4.6 Conclusion
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Chapter IV- Environment Analysis and Destination Development in Sikkim
4.1 The Relationship between Tourism and Environment
f all the political, economic and social revolutions of the last century,
none has so fundamentally changed human values and behavior as the
environmental revolution (Mc Cormik,1995,p.11). Concern over the
relationship between humanity and the environment has, since the late 1960s,
remained high on the international political agenda. Attention is not only paid to the
exploitation and degradation of the global ecosystem but also to the socio-cultural,
political and economic systems underpinning excessive or inappropriate resource use.
Consequently, the competing perspectives on the means of achieving a more
sustainable future for the planet and its inhabitants have fuelled what has now become
a weary intellectual debate (Southgate and Sharpley, 2002; p. 231).Environment is
“the sum total of all conditions and influences that affected the development and life
of organisms.” The term ‘environment’ is not much different in tourism from its
generic meaning as used in any other subjects. But tourism is environment-related
and dependent as people visit a destination mainly for the distinct environment, if it is
leisure tourism and even for other purposes the environmental features of the area are
also extensively related. Systematically defined, tourism environment is that vast
array of factors which represent external (dis)-economies of a tourism resort: natural
… anthropological, economic, social, cultural, historical, architectural and
infrastructural factors which represent a habitat onto which tourism activities are
grafted and which is thereby exploited and changed by the exercise of tourism
business. (EC, 1993; 4) According to Mathieson and Wall (1982; p. 97), if tourism is
to be successful and sustained, it requires the protection of the scenic and historical
heritage of destination areas and in the absence of such attractive environment, there
would be little tourism. Ranging from the basic attractions of sun, sea and sand to the
unbounded appeal of historic sites and structure, the environment is the foundation of
the tourist industry. The following diagram would better explain the environmental
aspects of tourism.
O
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Chapter IV- Environment Analysis and Destination Development in Sikkim
Figure 4.1: Potential Actor Groups Related to Tourism and Environmental Policies
Source: Adapted from Bill. B. and Hashimoto A., “Actors, Networks and Tourism Politics” in Buhalis D. and Costa C. (2006), eds, “Tourism Management Dynamics: Trends, management and tools”, Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford, pp. 157
Many research studies have represented environment for tourist destinations in a
different way as economic, social, cultural and environmental inclusion has been
influencing and significantly increasing the scope and range of tourism environment
with its conventional and natural trends. Holden (2002) discussed tourism
environment by considering different and distinct perceptions of tourists which is also
effective in the narrow sense of each and every destination. This approach also tends
to the fullness but in many cases loses its clarity and significant presence of other
interest groups involved in tourism environment. So, the destination environment
(Adapted from Holden, 2000; p.49-50) to the tourists and tourism industry is
expressed through different perceptions as given here under.
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Tourism and EnvironmentalPolicies in a Tourist
Destination
National Actors Groups
National environmental NGOsNational tourism organizationsGovt. ministriesNational ministry
Local Actor GroupsLocal communitiesLocal tourism businessesTourism employeesLocal Govt.Local environmental NGOs
International Actor GroupsNational tour operationsInternational tour operationsInternational environmental NGOsEU
Chapter IV- Environment Analysis and Destination Development in Sikkim
Figure 4.2: Destination Environment to Tourists and Other Groups
Source: Adapted from Holden et.al. ( 2002)
Probably the single greatest concern for every country is the impact of tourism on its
environment (Naisbitt, 1994, p. 140). So far, the travel and tourism industry has taken
little active part in framing the environmental policies so vital to its own interests
(Economist Intelligence Unit, 1992). Wahab ( 1975, 49) claims “ the genuine
environment always attracts more tourists than the imitation… the creation of
artificial environment, similar to those which the tourists have at home, does not
promote tourism in the long term”. On the other hand, mass tourism is economical
and socio-psychological (as many people seem to enjoy being a mass tourist) and
full-fledged alternative tourism can not replace conventional tourism as it is more
realistic to concentrate efforts in attempts to reform the worst prevailing situations,
not the development of alternatives. The more sensitive approach to tourism
development strives to satisfy the needs of local people, tourists, and the resource
base in a complementary rather than a competitive manner. So, each destination is
not only unique with respect to its physical resource base, but also for different
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Destination Environment as setting for action
Destination Environment as a social system
Destination Environment as emotional territory
Destination Environment as self
Functional role: support specific activities, a place for hedonism etc.
Interactive role: a place for social interaction
Emotional role: evokes feelings of well being,pride etc.
Identity role: the environment becomes part of the self
Tourist has conscious and unconscious disregard for environment
Tourist focuses on social interaction: environment is irrelevant to experience
Tourist involves himself/herself in environment: gazing, painting etc.
Tourist integrates with place; adapts behavior to blend with environment
Chapter IV- Environment Analysis and Destination Development in Sikkim
perceptions and outlook of that resource base with respect to the different groups and
stakeholders both within and external to the destination. In other words, even within
particular destinations numerous environments potentially exist. From the view of
management, each destination is a sort of business unit or strategic business unit
(SBU) or, more precisely, a corporation comprising numerous business units. All the
facilities, attractions and other organizations that collectively supply tourist services
and experiences in the destination are, in a sense, different divisions within the
overall destination business and ensure paradoxical competitive and cooperation.
Each destination (including those in the travel and tourism sector) / corporation/
strategic business unit (SBU) is intended to follow a strategic management process
that seeks to achieve a ‘goodness of fit’ between their resources and the external
environment in order to remain competitive and profitable. So, while framing strategy
for a destination, its mission, vision, capacities, resources, structure and system must
play an interactive role with what do we mean by the term ‘destination environment’.
Destination development plan or process should adequately contribute to destination
needs/community development/sustainable development issues as an interactive
process of destination capitals and ‘Destination resource pulls’ with external forces
and tourism development opportunities. But the concept of environmental
management of a destination development program deliberately deals with specific
issues or factors from within a holistic environmental perspective. Otherwise,
comprehension of actual intricate environmental conditions would remain
undisclosed and misleading results may come out. Following diagram discussing the
relationship of social goals, economic goals and environment and resource goals and
their logical relationship is given here under for the better destination environmental
analysis of Sikkim.
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Chapter IV- Environment Analysis and Destination Development in Sikkim
Exhibit 4.1: Relationship between Social goals, Economic Goals and
Environment and Resource Goals
Source: After Sadler & Wright (1993)
In the context of Sikkim, integrated land use planning and suitable use of unused
land, implementation of Ten ‘R-Word’ guide to corporate actions1 ( Middleton,1998;
p. 133-140), updating environmental laws, control of air and water pollution,
population stabilization and human settlements, use of non-polluting renewable
energy system are important issues to be considered. Thus a destination area would be
well advised to retain those elements or priority issues which made it distinctive, and
to present it’s cultural heritage in such a way that it would be both meaningful for
themselves and convenient for the visitor. Conservationists and some resource
managers now claim that the tourism industry runs the risk of spoiling its main
attraction- the natural environment. It is also acknowledged that there will,
increasingly, need to be some trade-offs between tourism and the environment.
However, it becomes difficult to limit visitors once a location has gained a reputation 1 Ten ‘R-Word’ guide to corporate actions comprises Recognize, Reduce, Refuse, Refuse, Replace, Retrain, Re-engineer, Replace, Reeducate, Reward
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Chapter IV- Environment Analysis and Destination Development in Sikkim
as an attractive destination (Davis & Weiler, 1992; p. 313). Budowski (1977, 3) feels
that “for the majority of cases the relationship between tourism and conservation is
usually one of coexistence moving towards conflict, mainly because of an increase in
tourism and the shrinking of natural areas.” Various projects and environmental
studies conducted so far exhibit the same relationship with respect to the important
destination specific forces/ variables/ attributes. Mercer (2004; p.466) suggests that
‘arguably biodiversity decline is the most serious global environmental problem and
is representative of an emerging set of new problems in tourism management that is
the subject of ongoing, and at times acrimonious debate’. Weaver et.al.(2000)
identifies three key elements in terms of the management implications of socio-
cultural and environmental impacts of tourism. The first is that all tourism-related
activity causes a certain amount of stress and the critical issue is whether proactive
management strategies can be used to reduce the level of stress to acceptable levels.
Acceptability is influenced by the perceptions of the benefits received from tourism.
The second point is that stress is linked to carrying capacity, which varies from site to
site and, in some cases, can be manipulated through adaptive measures. However,
ecosystems, societies and cultures all have different levels of resiliency and
adaptability. Their third key point is that carrying capacities are difficult to measure
as stress and its impacts are incremental and long term in nature.
Budowski (1976) suggested that three basic relationships typically interacting with
the ecosystem, societies and culture are-
Exhibit 4.2: Different Interactions among Ecosystem, Society and Culture
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Chapter IV- Environment Analysis and Destination Development in Sikkim
Conflict Tourism and the environment is in
conflict when tourism has a detrimental
impact on the environment.
Coexistence Tourism and environmental conservation
Table 4.4: Source of Drinking Water in SikkimSource : Gyatso and Bagdass, 1998
Note: Figures indicate the percentage of respondents collecting their drinking water from nearby source.
A significant number of rural people don’t purify water at all while the maximum
number of citizen in rural and urban areas purifies water through boiling. The use of
flush toilet in urban Sikkim is 82.9% while 9.10% of the urban population does not
have any latrine. More than 30% of the rural population has no latrine at all. Besides,
most of the sheds for the livestock are unhygienic and in deplorable condition. The
over all health services in Sikkim is East–Sikkim centric with only one of its State
referral hospital and maximum number of community health centres and primary
community health centres. The quick air transport service is in vogue for emergency
and critical cases of patients. Following is the table given here under showing the
distribution health services in all four districts of Sikkim.
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Chapter IV- Environment Analysis and Destination Development in Sikkim
Economic Environment of Sikkim
In the 10th Five Year Plan draft document of the Union Government, with a growth
rate of 8.3 percent in the 9th Five Year Plan (1997-2001) Sikkim was second to
only Pondicherry, Chandigarh and Delhi. The State was ahead of many other well
performing states. The growth estimates in the last four years of the 10 th Five Year
Plan do indicate that Sikkim has not only maintained growth regime achieved
in the Ninth Five Year Plan but also strived to enter into a higher and double digit
growth rate in the 10th Plan. This would certainly help achieve the national goal of 8
percent growth rate for the 10th Plan period (2002-2007). There has been a steady
increase in the share of the tertiary sector also, which recorded an increase from
41.79 per cent to 49.24 per cent during the same period. Within the tertiary
sector also, sub-sectors like transport, banking, insurance, communications and
public administration are accounting for a much larger share of the State’s GDP.
Public administration alone contributed to the extent of 30 per cent. Plan allocations
in different plans have recorded very significant jumps. The allocations to different
sectors have also been as per the priority discussed and declared by the
Government and also the needs and aspirations of the people of Sikkim at large.
The State has been raising the issue of the injustice done to Sikkim in the
award by the12th Finance Commission. The award of Rs 188.67 crores as against
the projection for post-devolution non-plan revenue deficit grant of Rs 2681.50 crores
for 2005-2010 and the abrupt withdrawal of subsidies in the power and
transport sector have made it extremely difficult to both carry forward the reform
process and achieve a higher growth regime of 10 percent. This has naturally tended
to jeopardize the implementation of the plan and other development programmes.
Unlike all the other North Eastern States which have received more than what they
received under the 11th Finance Commission award, Sikkim was awarded a
strikingly lower amount of Rs 188.67 crore as against the awards of Rs 841 crores by
the 11th Finance Commission.
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Chapter IV- Environment Analysis and Destination Development in Sikkim
4.3 Destination Environmental Analysis and Change Tourism is an industry but it is also a form and agent of development and change and
must be recognized as such. If, controlled and managed properly, it can be a non or
low-consumptive utilizer of resources and can operate on a sustainable basis.
However if developed beyond the capacity of the environment, the resource base, and
the local population to sustain it, it ceases to be a renewable resource industry and it
instead becomes…..a boom-bust enterprise. (Butler 1992, p.34). Beyond its economic
importance, tourism development can promote the preservation of cultural and social
values, including historical places of interest that might otherwise be lost. This is
particularly true for nature tourism because it promotes culturally and ecologically
sensitive travel. Environmental strategies for tourist destinations are implemented by
putting “Environmental and Accessibility Strategies together (Murphy, P.,1983; p.
60-78).” Because accessibility, very often, resurrects the place itself but at the same
time degrades wilderness of that area and as such the core point of strategy is how to
seek balance between tourism development and conservation. Practically we have to
consider the balance among tourism, conventional economic development, and
conservation which are interrelated, interdependent, and intricate and in some cases
inter-contradictory. By grouping these forces we get some factors initiating changes
while others are resisting the same. Here lies the introduction of a detailed macro and
micro environmental analyses and consequent change management and development
of proactive future strategies, based on sustainable use. Kotler (1982, p. 84) argued
that if an organization is going to adapt to changing circumstances, it must figure out
what it must adapt to. So, keeping in view all these forces, we can prepare a ‘force
field’ as introduced by Kurt Lewin. Here we are modifying Lewin’s model with
respect to a destination although the basics are the same.
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Chapter IV- Environment Analysis and Destination Development in Sikkim
Figure 4.3: Modified Lewin’s Model with respect to a Destination
Kurt Lewin introduced a Three-Step Model of understanding change that we can
discuss with respect to a destination as there is a little difference in the concept of
change for an organization and that of the destination.According to Lewin (1947)
organizational (destination) changes could be understood in terms of three
consecutive processes: unfreezing i.e. shaking up the organization to adopt or accept
new change, moving i.e. bringing about the requisite change (structural change or
change in internal system etc.), refreezing i.e. cementing in or locking in the changes
and prevent the organization from going back to its old days. Unfreezing involves
introducing measures that will enable employees to abandon their current practices or
cultural norms in preparation for the change. In many organizations nothing has
changed for many years and unfreezing is necessary as a ‘shaking-up’ phase. The
impetus for unfreezing can come from either inside or outside the organization itself.
Changing market conditions, for example, sometimes give employees warning that
change will be imminent. A particular market crisis may precipitate the expectation
amongst employees that change must happen as a result. Internally, a management
shake-up, a profit warning or talk of restructuring may bring about similar
expectations. Moving to the new level involves bringing about the requisite change
itself. The time period given over to this phase varies widely. Structural change can
usually be brought about relatively quickly. Changes in internal systems sometimes
take longer (such as the introduction of new quality or information systems), whilst
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Chapter IV- Environment Analysis and Destination Development in Sikkim
changing culture can take years. Refreezing is necessary to ‘lock in’ the changes and
to prevent the organization from going back to its old ways. Again, we would usually
take cultural changes to require more ‘cementing in’ than some other changes and
some resolve might be required on the part of senior management. Again the pace at
which change happens can usually be divided into two categories step and
incremental (see Exhibit 13.5). There are two factors that determine which is the most
appropriate (Quinn and Voyer, 1998).
Exhibit 4.3: Step and Incremental Pace in the Change of Organizational
(Destination) Environment
Source : Southgate, C., Sharpley, R. Tourism, Development and the Environment. In Sharpley
R. and D.J. Telfer ( Ed.). (2002). Aspects of Tourism: Tourism and Development, Concepts and
Issues (p. 231-262).
All broad issues of the macro destination environment should be categorized. One of
the well accepted techniques is STEEP (Socio-Demographical, Technological,
Economic, Environmental and Political) Analysis for a destination. While discussing
STEEP Analysis it should be noted that some factors are generic and others are
typically oriented to travel and tourism. Peattie and Moutinho (2000) provided a
review of some of the major environmental influences in travel and tourism using an
extended framework, which they termed SCEPTICAL2 analysis. This acronym stands
2 SCEPTICAL Analysis stands for Social, Cultural, Economic, Physical, Technical, International, Communication and Infrastructure, Administrative and Institutional, Legal and Political Analysis with exhibited factors.
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Chapter IV- Environment Analysis and Destination Development in Sikkim
for Social, Cultural, Economic, Physical, Technical, International, Communications
and infrastructure, Administrative and institutional, Legal and political. Lockwood
and Medlik (2001), Bulhalls (2001), Vogel (2001), Cooper and Gilbert (1998) and
Vanhove (2001) also give some interesting and delicate insights in discussing the key
macro environmental factors affecting the travel and tourism industry. In her analysis,
Auliana Poon (1993) explained the issues of radical changes and found out that a new
tourism was developing to replace the old tourism based on mass tourism. The five
key forces (consumers, technology, production, management and ‘frame conditions’)
which had served to create mass tourism in the first place were themselves changing
to create the new tourism. The Porter (1980) model emphasizes the competitive
forces of enterprises and (to a lesser extent) of destinations, and the related generic
competitive strategies. Porter (1990) model emphasizes the home environment and
related determinants.
Destination environment changes with the passage of time and so the planning
process. Planning process generally changes from active to reactive as tourism
develops into mass tourism (Butler 1992; p.39). There is a need to continually review
strategic objectives because the environment is always changing. The purpose of
strategy is to make an organization/ destination to fit into its environment. By
achieving this, the probabilities that it will survive and prosper are enhanced. There
are a number of areas of which we need to be aware in order to effectively implement
a strategy for a travel and tourism destination. Implementation of a destination
development strategy typically involves the (i) adequacy of a destination’s resource
base; (ii) the readiness of the destination’s culture and structure to undertake the
proposed strategy; (iii) the management of any changes that are needed to implement
the strategy; (iv) the extent to which the organization positions itself in respect to its
geographic coverage and international presence.
In implementing the strategic process it is necessary to be aware not only of changes
occurring to the internal and external environment, but also of changes to the subject
matter itself.
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Chapter IV- Environment Analysis and Destination Development in Sikkim
While analyzing the environment of Sikkim as a destination, following factors we can
consider to categorize its features and to describe the strategic orientation.. These are-
(i) Economic environment,
(ii) Physical/ ecological environment,
(iii) Technological environment,
(iv) Social environment,
(v) Cultural environment,
(vi) Political environment,
(vii) Legal environment.
All these issues are revolving around a typical geographical segregation viz. within
the destination and outside the destination, though this kind of specification is not
fully free from criticism. The following issues of discussing all the aspects of
environment should be discussed from within the destination and outside the
destination but the actual fact is how the intricate issues involved in each aspect of
environment are interacting and synthesizing among themselves and integrating with
other aspects. Political environment accentuating the major decisions relating to other
aspects of the environment is typically preceding and interacting with the socio-
cultural issues of the society but political ideology of a society is responsible for the
major decisions of tourism development and management. Economic environment is
also influenced by political aspects for the generation and distribution of financial
resources, institutionalized and structural issues of tourism in an economy. The
interaction of the economic issues from within the destination and with the outside
the destination should be properly assessed to analyze economic conditions and
related significant changes therein. Legal environment is intended to be proactive,
futuristic and very often compared from one destination to another with reference to
these qualities. Legal environment has a conventional contradiction with the
development procedure and as such seeks a balance between these two. Of late, all
places accept the increasing contribution of technology as a key factor of all business
and economic activities and in tourism the technological environment has an
extensive role to play with respect to each element and jointly with all.
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Chapter IV- Environment Analysis and Destination Development in Sikkim
Broadly divided macro and micro tourism environment are significantly influencing
tourism development and impact assessment in Sikkim. The opinion survey for hosts
conducted to analyze economic, socio-cultural and ecological problems and prospects
associated with tourism environment and its development in Sikkim. More
specifically, the six broad areas or factors of tourism environment of Sikkim viz.
importance of guest-host relationship, need for outside investment for tourism
development, level and effectiveness of tourism legislation, type of tourists and its
compatibility, extent of alternative approaches taken by the government to utilize
tourism as a community development tool, extent of sustainable practices followed in
destination management were addressed in the survey. Each one of these variables
was ranked at five point scale ranging from strongly disagree to strongly agree. A
suitable nonparametric Kruskal Wallis Rank test was used with the null hypothesis
that ‘individual wise ranks are consistent’ and alternative hypothesis that ‘individual
wise ranks are not consistent’.
4.4 Tourism Development Initiatives and Environmental
Perspectives The tourism policy of Sikkim is revolving around sustainable economic practices and
the State Government is strongly determined to develop and promote Sikkim as an
ultimate eco tourism destination with quality tourism practices from all concerned
issues. Following are the initiatives contributing to sustainable tourism development
in Sikkim.
Tourist hotels and eco lodges are a priority for tourism sector in Sikkim.
Today, Sikkim can boast of more than a couple of three- star hotels. For the
high-income visitor, a five-star hotel is coming up at Pangthan in East Sikkim
for which a memorandum of understanding was signed. The numbers of
tourist hotels and available beds have increased manifold in the last ten years.
Sikkim Industrial Development Investment Corporation (SIDICO), in
association with the Voluntary Health Association of Sikkim (VHAS),
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Chapter IV- Environment Analysis and Destination Development in Sikkim
promotes environment friendly tourism in two remote villages, ‘Rong’ in the
South District and ‘Lading’ in the West District. An interesting finding from
these projects is that success in involving villagers in the development work
and effecting changes among the community is inversely related to
accessibility to government funding. In ‘Lading’, which is more remote than
Rong, and thus had lower recourse to government resources, the project was
able to secure higher levels of village participation.
Eco-tourism project in Assam Lingzey (near Gangtok) run by project KEEP
(Khedi Eco-tourism and Eco-development Promotion) local residents offer
rooms in their homes for home-stays and work as guides for trekkers
traversing the Khedi route and for day-long hikes through the village and
neighboring areas. By involving visitors in their traditional way of life, the
project encourages the local Bhutia people to retain the traditional features of
their homes, local customs, and sensitizes village inhabitants and visitors to
the importance of environmental preservation.
To promote village tourism, thirty model villages having all the basic and
modern facilities are being constructed in different parts of the State. All these
will enable the visitors to enjoy a first-hand experience of the rich heritage
and lifestyle of Sikkim. The Government is ensuring that these model villages
should be included in every tourist’s itinerary.
To enable tourists to comfortably visit the old temples, monasteries, churches,
Gurudwaras and mosques and other shrines in Sikkim, pilgrim tourism is
being promoted vigorously. Sikkim has immense potentialities for Buddhist
tourism that can directly ensure foreign tourist arrival and increase per capita
spending. A Pilgrim cum Cultural Center was proposed on top of the hill at
Solophok which is 5 Km away from Namchi town in South District. This hill
is opposite to Samduptse Hill where Statue of Guru Padamasambhava exists.
The State government has now proposed to support at least one tourist centre
in each Gram Panchayat Unit in the State.
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Chapter IV- Environment Analysis and Destination Development in Sikkim
Adventure Tourism is one of the prime tourist products of Sikkim. About 80%
of the foreign tourists come to Sikkim with their prime motivation to go for
trekking and biking on the mountains of Sikkim and for Water Sports in
Teesta and Rangit.
Among domestic tourists also, the number of youths interested in adventure
tourism has been increasing every year. There is a huge market for adventure
tourism in Sikkim. The State Government has identified and promoted
adventure tourism in the five main routes which include “Monastic trek” (51