“Yes! Our Mussoorie and Landour are Still a Special Place”- Looking Social Sustainability in Tourism through Cultural Lens

Abstract

 Tourism has grown exponentially in recent decades, and tourism based on natural and cultural resources has increased dramatically. Also, tourism based on nature has diversified a lot due to an increase in mass tourism, which has also negatively impacted the social aspect of tourism. Although a significant number of studies have been conducted concerning the negative impact of tourismstudies on the negative impact of tourism with respect to social aspects are still lacking.  Further, within the social aspect, preserving and protecting the cultural part is crucial but often neglected in studies. Therefore, the current research tries to fill the gap in social sustainability literature from a cultural lens with respect to tourism, which is underrepresented in the literature. Concerning the above viewpoint, the current work tries to assess the nature of socio-cultural sustainability in Mussoorie through the primary data collected from community experts and local people based in Mussoorie and secondary data drawn from the writings/texts/books written by the well-known native authors and historians of Mussoorie, along with other related articles. The paper begins by briefly discussing the intricate relationship between culture and tourism. It next examines the literature on the related subject. It discusses the nature of cultural and literary heritage in Mussoorie. The study is based on the concept of social capital. It also highlights the intricate relationship between social capital, culture, and social sustainability and its significance in preserving culture and heritage in Mussoorie.