Poverty Reduction Through Pro-Poor Tourism: A Case Study of Handicraft Sector of Varanasi

Tourism continues to be a major activity in India, which inevitably produces economic, political, social, cultural and ecological consequences. In India, Tourism has created employment opportunities for airline executives, hotel sales managers, structural engineers, city planners, horticulturists, computer programmers, artisans, textiles workers, etc. In spite of its growth, it has not reached out to the masses because the net benefits accrue only to a limited segment of the society, to say, big business agents. It is an imperative duty of the so-called richer class to reach out the benefits directly to the Pro-Poor People who are actually working into the tourism sector day and night. Thus, Pro-Poor Tourism (PPT) is tourism that results in increased net benefits for poor people or marginalized section of the society. The aim of this paper is to explore the prospects and challenges of ‘pro-poor tourism strategies’ and its significance in poverty reduction by generating employment in handicraft sector of Varanasi in order to identify useful lessons and good practice for livelihood and capacity building, leadership and community development for sustainable development.