Determination of the Difference in Socio-Demographic Characteristics of Homestay Travelers and General Tourists in Sikkim and their Influence on the Environmental Motivations

Abstract

Introduction: Homestay tourism has emerged as a new addition to the tourism accommodation industry across the world. In India, the state of Sikkim is very popular in attracting homestay tourists because the state actively promotes ecotourism and cultural tourism which in turn also helps the local communities to get employment and generate additional income

Purpose:  The primary aim of the current study is to develop a framework to examine the difference between the socio-demographic characteristics of homestay travellers and general tourists and determine the influence of these socio-demographic characteristics on their environmental motivations.

Methodology: A mixed-method approach has been employed to address the objectives. Primary data has been collected from general and homestay tourists in Sikkim through self-developed survey-based questionnaires. Descriptive statistics has been used to analyze the data.

Findings: The findings suggest that there is a significant difference between the socio-demographic characteristics of homestay travellers and general tourists in Sikkim, such as gender, age group, marital status, education level, and income, and that environmental motivations such as ecocentrism, sustainability, Global self-identity, and Altruism are more prevalent among homestay tourists.

Research Originality:  This study will be helpful in identifying the various environmental motivational factors that drive tourists with different socio-demographic characteristics to choose homestay accommodations over general accommodations.