Porto Novo Vellar Estuaries: Design and Testing of Eco-Tourism in the Bay of Bengal, India

Abstract

In current scenario Mass tourism or Beach tourism or Costal tourism occupies more percentage of recreational tourism while  ecotourism  contributes  less  percentage  which  can  be overcome  by  innovation  in  ecotourism  like  Estuary  Mouth Tourism [EMT] and Small Island Tourism [SIT] in the form of cooperative  tourism  management.  This  study  is  conducted  at Porto   Novo-Vellar   Estuary   to   assess   the   awareness   and preferences  of  tourist  in  addition  to  the  Mangrove  Boating Tourism [MBT]. Data are collected from 35 students at the post graduate  and  doctoral  level  in  the  University  using  sixteen pictorial profiles of tourism packages combining all alternative tourism  packages  and  35  tourist  respondents  who  visited  the destination   about   the   strength   and   opportunities   of   the destination. Conjoint analysis and SWOT analysis are applied for the study. Since floating market contributes a lot to Thailand’s economy.   Implementation   of   cooperative   ecotourism,   with innovations at this estuary can contribute to economic growth.