Transformation in Perception towards Tourism of the Local Community: An Important Stakeholder of Sunderbans Tiger Reserve, India

Abstract

The COVID-19 Pandemic has been a disaster for all the population of the world. Every single person's life is affected on one or multiple levels. People’s perception has also changed due to the pandemic. Immense fear has been established among the living for their lives and health. People have limited their interaction and exposure to the outside world, even to the known ones. The tourism industry has suffered a great deal due to this COVID-19 pandemic, as tourism relies on the people's willingness to explore and interact with different cultures and populations. The local community of the protected areas has shut themselves from the neighboring areas and are entertaining limited tourists on a per need basis. The local community is a prime stakeholder in any protected site as they hold a key control and knowledge of the land, hence their corporation is very important and needed for the success of tourism plans for the site. One of the priced positions of India is Sunderbans, a protected site which is famous all over the world. This paper studies the change in the perception of the local community of the Sunderbans Tiger Reserve towards tourism. The data was collected in two facets, one prior pandemic which was in January 2020, and one during pandemic in February 2021. Researchers collected data from 100 people from the local community both times. This study will compare the data and determine which variables are affected due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Cronbach alpha test was applied and the test depicts that the data is reliable for any further analysis. Descriptive analysis is used to identify the perception of the local community. The result of the study does identify a shift in the perception towards tourism in the local community due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The study concludes by listing recommendations that will help to impose and maintain a positive perception of the local community towards tourism and tourists.