Tourism in Assam with Special Reference to Sivasagar: Trends and Impacts

Abstract

Tourism is an economic term, and being an economic activity, it is associated with the generation of income, employment and market facilities. Due to the advancement in transportation and communication, the demand for tourism has been increasing continuously. Despite periodic setbacks, tourism has grown steadily over time, demonstrating the sector's strength and resilience. Assam is witnessing a thrilling mix of soothing beauty, and natural wonder along with a voyage into the past, history and culture, and such attractions of tourism give Assam comparative advantages over the other states of the country. Yet such advantages have not brought her the prominent position in Assam that she deserves for a variety of reasons. Using linear regression and time-series analysis, this study attempted to assess the trajectory of both local and foreign visitor arrivals to Assam's five protected sites. The Mann-Kendall test and Sen’s slope estimator have been utilized, which shows an upward trend for domestic tourist arrivals and a mixed trend for foreign tourists, but overall, both domestic and foreign tourist arrivals have shown an increasing trend for the most recent period (2003-2019). By accounting for the variation in the number of visitors to the chosen sites throughout the peak and offpeak seasons, the overall variation in income and employment generated has been estimated. The estimated results clearly indicate the tremendous potential of tourism to increase employment as well as income of the people involved in tourism-related activities in the vicinity of the concerned area.