A Study Of Prospects Of Wild Life Tourism In Madhya Pradesh” With Special Reference To Hospitality Facilities

Tourism Industry in India is one of the fastest growing industries in the country leading to a very high contribution in foreign exchange earnings along with a lot of internal movement also. In the past couple of decades it has been noticed that along with development of core tourism, the support system and complimentary system has also developed leading to means of employment generation. Increase in wildlife tourism in India has created jobs in a variety of associated sectors, both directly and indirectly. World Travel and Tourism Council states that India generated INR 19.1 trillion in 2019 which is equivalent to 11.6% of country’s GDP. India ranks 7th in world in terms of its total contribution to the country’s GDP. Tourism is an industry which is related purely to individual satisfaction and comfort more than anything else. UNWTO states that India stands 40th in the world by receiving 9 million international footfall in 2019. Almost 20 million all category people are now working in India’s Tourism Industry. India’s tourism is thriving, owing to a huge flow in both business and leisure travel by foreign and domestic tourists and is expected to generate approximately US$ 300 billion by 2023. With an increase environmental awareness and pressure of urbanization people look forward to places which involve active outdoor recreation. Thus, national parks and sanctuaries have emerged as the favourite destinations nomenclature wild life tourism. The visitors to these national parks are people of all age groups. They are driven by the motivation to do something "adventurous”. They look forward to a place of comfort which is relaxing and rejuvenating. The prime objective of study has been to understand the tourists expectations on various aspects of hospitality. The data was collected through interviews by convenient sampling. The study was conducted in the three leading wild life parks of central India i.e. Madhya Pradesh and they are Kanha, Bandhavgarh and Pench. The number of respondents including all reserves worked in as sample for the research is as follows:Tourists – 300 respondents; Hotels and Resorts – 90 respondents; Eateries – 75 respondents; Drivers – 60 respondents; Guides – 60 respondents; and Local Vendors – 60 respondents. Both quantitative and qualitative data was collected for analysis. Key words: Tourism, Wild Life Tourism, Tourism Hospitality