Perceived impact of eco-tourism on residents community life With special reference to Wayanad district

Ecotourism is a form of tourism that involves visiting natural areas in the remote wilderness or rural environments. Ecotourism is a form of tourism involving visiting fragile, pristine, and relatively undisturbed natural areas, intended as a low impact and often small scale alternative to standard commercial tourism.

Ecotourism promotes greater understanding and appreciation for nature, local society, and culture. In Kerala a number of ecotourism potential centers have been identified by the authorities. Moreover, if ecotourism is developed properly in this region it will help to achieve sustainable balanced regional development. However, ecotourism industry experiences certain issue in this region. Even though there are great possibilities and potentialities for the promotion of ecotourism in Kerala, The initiatives on the part of the Government and tourism authorities is not up to the mark.

Research into tourism impact is an important part of tourism geography. To investigate residents perception is a good method to study whether resident's perception of community life satisfaction vary with the level of tourism development in their community. The purpose of this study is to investigate resident's perceptions of the importance of ecotourism and their satisfaction with different dimensions of community life in order to determine which dimensions are most sensitive to change in the level of tourism development.