Abstract:
The state of Gujarat in its tourism policy (2015-2020) has mentioned “that the tourism in Gujarat emphasis
on improving livelihood linkages and providing increasing investment opportunities by promoting tourism
entrepreneurship”. The attempt was thought to be important as to encourage the local people for selfemployment
by acquiring skills of hospitality and entrepreneurship. In this paper, I examine in what ways the
livelihood (socioeconomic changes) of local communities in Sasan Gir is getting affected as they take part in
tourism entrepreneurship encouraged by the state agencies. I discuss findings from the villages around Gir
National Park and Sanctuary and providing case study on Bhojde- a village heavily dependent on tourism.
The investigation finds answers to the questions like why there is rising entrepreneurial tendency among the
local farmers to change the traditional profession of farming and a desire to become an hotelier, in what
problems entrepreneurs are stuck in and why, who benefits, who are the different stakeholders involved, and
which are the political and bureaucratic agencies involved? The reason behind calling the home stays activity
in the beginning as entrepreneurial and legal and then after two years bracketing it as illegal, is also
questionable.
Description:
Thirteenth Biennial Conference on Entrepreneurship/ Edited by Sasi Misra, Sunil Shukla, Ganapathi Batthini
