MEASURING ICT PROFICIENCY AND EVALUATING HINDRANCE AMONG RURAL INHABITANTS OF SELECTED RURAL TOURISM (PONG DAM WETLAND) SITES OF HIMACHAL PRADESH

Abstract

Measuring host community (rural community) proficiency and hindrances in effective use of ICT for promotion and marketing of rural tourism is an important area of research in the current context. The contemporary research is directly indebted to the development goals set by the state government in State Tourism Policy (2019) to bridge socio-economic disparity gap from the state using tourism and ICT as main drivers for change. Envisioning the vision of the government, current research is largely dedicated to evaluate responses from 200 respondents directly or indirectly engaged with tourism in specific areas of Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh. Respondents were also participant in training programme conducted by Infrastructure Development and Investment Program for Tourism (IDIPT) in the study area. The results depict local community expression of interest in increasing ICT trainings with tourism as a concept in the rural area for removing digital disparity. Community actively engaged in the training programmes with ICT and rural tourism embraced the basic terminology with ICT for promotion of rural tourism. The suggestive and corrective measure at micro level to create community of learners along with resource indexing and tunnel vision approach for Bottom of Pyramid could lead to achievement of goals to contemplate multidimensional sustainable local tourism enterprises.