Satisfaction Level of Tourists in India: A Study of Kashmir Division of Jammu and Kashmir State

Abstract

Tourist satisfaction has been identified as an important concept in establishing the performance of different destinations.  Given the increasing level of competitiveness, it is essential for tourism management authorities to understand the main factors causing satisfaction/dissatisfaction for the tourist.  It is extremely important to take into account the way a tourist feels about the destinations they visit.  Different kinds of tourists reach a particular destination with a specific objective and if the objective is fulfilled the tourist may like to visit the site again and recommend the site to others.  A tourist destination ideally should fulfill the expectations of the tourist including tourism products and market. Each tourist destination could be engineered in the way that it can fulfill most of the aspirations of the visiting tourist.  The area under study is ‘Kashmir division’ of the Jammu and Kashmir State of India is often called as the ‘Switzerland of the East’. The purpose of this study is to identify the satisfaction level of tourists on their travel experience in the Kashmir Division.  Field survey method was employed to collect the primary data from the mass of 151 tourists with the help of well framed questionnaire.  There are 35 close ended items in the questionnaire consisting of demographic information, tourist facilities and services, tourist accommodation, tourist attractions and so on in the Kashmir valley.  The study found that the satisfaction level of tourists in Kashmir is high but there are some factors on which policy makers of Kashmir valley should work upon that cause dissatisfaction or in order to increase the inflow of tourists both domestic as well as foreign in Kashmir.

Keywords: Satisfaction level, Tourist services and facilities, Accommodation, Prime Attraction and Natural Beauty, Kashmir Division, India.