Title: Attractiveness of Varanasi as a tourist destination: perspective of foreign tourists

Authors: Debadyuti Das, Pratap K.J. Mohapatra, Sushil Kumar Sharma, Ashutosh Sarkar

Addresses: Faculty of Management Studies, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi – 221 005, Uttar Pradesh, India. ' Department of Industrial Engineering and Management, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur – 721 302, India. ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi – 221 005, Uttar Pradesh, India. ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi – 221 005, Uttar Pradesh, India

Abstract: The present paper examines the attractiveness of Varanasi as a tourist destination from the perspective of foreign tourists considering several important dimensions simultaneously. These are demographic characteristics of tourists, their expectation on touristic attributes of the destination as also satisfaction with the same and finally holistic impressions of the destination. A factor analysis carried out on 24 touristic attributes pertaining to the expectation of visitors gives rise to seven meaningful constructs. Results of step-wise multiple regression analysis between the perceived attractiveness and the above seven constructs reveal the importance of each of these seven constructs in explaining the perceived attractiveness of the destination. Holistic impressions of Varanasi reveal that it is a city embodying the essence of Indian spiritualism and mysticism with Ganges and Ghats forming the heart of the city.

Keywords: destination image; visitor expectation; tourist satisfaction; perceived attractiveness; Varanasi; India; tourist destination; foreign tourists; tourist perspectives; tourism policy.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTP.2007.015524

International Journal of Tourism Policy, 2007 Vol.1 No.2, pp.111 - 133

Published online: 24 Oct 2007 *

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