Tourism Schemes as Drivers of Economic Empowerment in Hill Communities of Uttarakhand: Evidence from the Garhwal Region

• Akanksha Chauhan

  Author

• Dr. Brij Mohan Prasad

  Author

This study examines whether public tourism schemes can operate as instruments of economic empowerment in the hill communities of Uttarakhand, with a specific focus on the Garhwal region. The analytical concern is not tourism growth per se, but the extent to which tourism policy converts visitor demand into locally retained income, self-employment, micro-enterprise formation, livelihood diversification and greater participation of women and youth. The study adopts a secondary-data and policy-analysis design, with the empirical assessment covering tourism and scheme-related evidence. Evidence is drawn principally from the Uttarakhand Tourism Development Board (UTDB), Government of Uttarakhand tourism policies and scheme documents, official tourist statistics, and relevant peer-reviewed studies. The study evaluates the Veer Chandra Singh Garhwali Tourism Self-Employment Scheme, the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Griha Awaas (Homestay) framework, the Uttarakhand Tourism Policy 2023, and complementary destination, rural and adventure-tourism initiatives. Official statistics show 59.55 million recorded visits at major destinations across Uttarakhand in 2024, of which the Garhwal circuit accounted for a dominant share because it contains Haridwar, Dehradun-Rishikesh-Mussoorie, Tehri and the Char Dham destinations. The spatial pattern, however, is highly concentrated. Recent empirical research on Uttarakhand homestays reports positive income and local-business effects while also identifying finance, promotion, documentation and infrastructure as persistent constraints. The findings indicate that tourism schemes generate the strongest empowerment effects when they lower entry barriers for resident-owned enterprises and strengthen local value chains. The analysis concludes that future policy evaluation should move from counting arrivals and registered units to measuring household income additionality, employment quality, female ownership, local procurement, seasonality and migration outcomes.

1. Akanksha Chauhan

   Research Scholar, Department of Economics, Shri Guru Ram Rai University, Dehradun-248001, Uttarakhand, India.

2. Dr. Brij Mohan Prasad

   (Assistant Professor), Supervisor, Department of Economics, Shri Guru Ram Rai University, Dehradun-248001, Uttarakhand, India.

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