Coastal Tourism and Sustainability: A Case Study of East Midnapur District, West Bengal, India

Coastal tourism can be defined as a process in which tourists visit people and places along the coasts as well as experience natural and cultural resources in a coastal environment. Since the second half of the twentieth century, development of tourism along the coastline especially in tropical countries have drastically altered the delicate ecological balance of the coastal regions. With a total coastline of 7,516.6 km and 170 million people living in the coastal region, coastal tourism is becoming a fast-developing component of overall tourism industry in India. At present Digha, Shankarpur, Mandarmani, Tajpur are some of the most popular tourist destinations in West Bengal, India. Situated on the coast of East Midnapur District, West Bengal, these sites fall under the Coastal Regulation Zone I (CRZ-I) which is extremely vulnerable to coastal erosion. From 1950s the government of West Bengal actively promoted Digha as a tourist spot. As the popularity of Digha increased, the nearby beach of Shankarpur also started attracting tourists’ attention. On the other hand, Mandarmani and Tajpur remained relatively unknown until 1990s. Both of these sites have developed into well-known tourist sites in the past two decades. This has been associated with a boom in hotel and seaside resort development leading to a drastic change in land use patterns. Today, the website of West Bengal Government Tourism Department promotes Tajpur as ‘one of the most hidden beaches of India.’ Interestingly, the elements of attraction mentioned in the website for Tajpur – virgin beach, natural vegetation, red crabs and moderate to little tourist presence – were previously applicable to Digha, Shankarpur and Mandarmani. This brings us to the question of the impact of tourism development on land use-land cover of the coastal areas of East Midnapur. This paper examines the transformation of East Midnapur coastal belt as a tourist destination by studying land use data from various available literature. Collation of these data can provide a better understanding of the impact of tourism on East Midnapur and offer sustainable solutions in managing tourism-related investments along the coast of West Bengal.