Tourism and Sustainability in India – Exploring Sustainability of Goa Tourism from the Perspective of Local Community

This research paper empirically examines the economic, environmental, and social sustainability of Goa tourism from the perspective of the local community. A structured questionnaire survey was conducted among the local community across Goa, the model tourist destination of India. This research has used descriptive statistics for examining the environmental, economic, and social sustainability of tourist destinations of Goa. The factor analysis has been used for identifying the factors that determine the sustainability of Goa tourism from the perspective of the local community. The research findings prove that tourism development is ensuring the environmental and economic sustainability of tourist destinations of Goa. However, the findings on social sustainability indicators prove that tourism is exerting huge pressure on Goa’s society. The factor analysis discloses that the factors such as resource exploitation, resource management, socio-economic empowerment, economic and governance systems, destination empowerment, poverty eradication, and tourism governance, influence the sustainability of tourism in Goa.